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Mitch always loved it when the rules were explained to her upfront. If she wasn’t careful, she could get in way over her head and watch the night take a different turn from what Vanessa had intended.Then I’m punished. Oh, no.This relationship was rough when no matter what Mitch did, she got what she wanted – and Vanessa loved giving it to her.
Focus.They weren’t really here to make friends. They were here to gather information.
Mitch got up from the loveseat and helped herself to the goodies left on a table. Sparkling water and the kind of finger foods that left the fewest crumbs greeted her, and she had to pretend that she was hungry enough to eat a stick of celery in the hopes that someone would talk to her.
She continued to receive furtive glances, but Vanessa was the popular one as more than one person gathered around her to talk shop. Everyone knew that Vanessa Richards was one of the best investors around. She didn’t take on every client who approached her, but she was willing to dole out free advice to those she wanted to lure into her circle.
Mitch still didn’t understand most of it. Stocks, bonds, and IRAs were basically Greek to her – which was why Vanessa was her financial advisor. Once Mitch started coming into her own money, it was paramount that she trust her partner to help grow it “just in case.”In case I die and want to leave something to my family. In case they need more help and I don’t want to bother her more than she’s already been.
In case this fairy-tale romance fell apart and Mitch was left bereft again.
That was a potential future she never wanted to entertain. She already knew the unfathomable pain of being rejected by Vanessa after they had already been through so much. Mitch didn’t know what kind of hell she’d put herself through should that ever happen again.
For one thing, she would definitely make terrible relationship choices going forward. Other women pretended to understand her like Vanessa did, but Vanessa was the one who knew when Mitch was going too far and what kind of aftercare she needed after an intense scene that left her confused and, sometimes, nonverbal. No one else – certainly nobody in this dungeon – could ever know her that well.
“Forgive me,” said a voice beside her, “but is that your natural hair? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with it before.”
With a short glass of sparkling water in one hand and a sliced carrot in the other, Mitch turned to Freida, one of the guests she had instantly recognized when she arrived.
“Yes.” Mitch bit off the end of her snack. “Just had it freshened up earlier this week.” A pair of sisters took care of Vanessa and Mitch, one tasked with expertly taming Vanessa’s curls while the other doled out the best short haircuts that Mitch could comb into either decidedly masculine or flirtatiously feminine. Tonight, it was combed to the side and slightly wet.Feminine.That’s what this crowd liked. Then again, only Vanessa got to enjoy the seductive company of everyday butch Mitch.Just for my Mistress. Not women like Freida.Freida wished she was Mitch’s Mistress. She had said so herself the last time they encountered one another.
“You always look so… perfect.” Freida sipped the wine she still had yet to finish. She was taller than Mitch, and as ambiguous with her gender presentation. Mitch had seen Freida in pantsuits with buzzcuts and cocktail dresses with shoulder-length hair. Her Domme style was the same either way – and not what Mitch wanted in her Mistress. “Those wigs you often wear are high quality too, aren’t they? I never know what you’ll look like the next time we meet.”
“Sometimes I leave the wigs at home when we’re at a more intimate affair.” Mitch kicked her foot to the side and approached Freida, who steeled herself for that shoulder about to brush against her arm. “This way, everyone can appreciate the Italian shampoo I’ve started using.”
“You’re an expensive woman these days.” Freida chuckled. “I already knew that.”
“Did you come over to flirt, Madam?” Mitch batted her eyelashes long enough to turn her head away and grin. “I’m afraid I belong to Vanessa tonight. You can look, but not touch.”
“Do I never ask for permission first?”
“Usually the money’s hitting the account before you get the words out of your mouth.”
Freida raised one particular eyebrow. “You’re sassy tonight.”
“Consider me an entertaining conversation partner more than a piece of eye candy.” Mitch shrugged. “If you can.”
“Trust me, I’m not dumb enough to get lost in thoughts ofyou.Even if Vanessa died tomorrow – perish the thought – the odds of you running into my arms once you were done grieving are slim to none.”
“I’d never stop grieving.”
Freida rolled her heavy-lidded eyes. “I know.”
“Tell me,” Mitch had to change this subject before Freida dragged them both down too deep. “How is it you know Candace Lister? You’re not a local I pegged being on her guest list.”
A normal conversation lifted the weight from Freida’s shoulders. She helped herself to a sliced cucumber on a toothpick and said between bites, “She was once one of my clients. Feels like an eternity ago now.” She finished the cucumber slice and turned to her wine. Did she need it to talk about their hostess that night? “Getting involved with her even on a friendly level was a complete no-go when she was a client at my law firm. Since she decided she needed a firm with more ‘global knowledge?’ Heh. Suddenly I was invited to all of the parties. She once said she ‘saw’ something in me.”
Mitch knew how to make the most of a deadpan delivery. “Was it your heart… or crotch?”
Freida caught herself laughing at that. “Never anything like that. We’re too much on the same wavelength if you know what I mean.”
“I’ve courted that assumption.”
“I figured you were a woman who could see right through those things.”
“Is this the only kind of thing she invites you to?” Mitch swirled her sparkling water in its glass but had no intention of drinking it. She had already called too much attention to her lips. If she worked this anymore, Freida might excuse herself and Mitch would lose her chance to gain information. “Because I’ve heard Candace is quite the party animal with a club in every town.”
Freida glanced over Mitch’s head, as if someone were behind her, waiting to give the signal. “Well… Candace knows how to have a good time, this is true.”
