With Sean’s last appointment out of the way, she had one challenge left for the day. Dealing with Banner wouldn’t be quite as easy.
She took out her phone and texted him.
Can we meet somewhere and talk soon?
He answered right away, surprising her. Shouldn’t he be in some important business meeting?
Today? The coffee shop on Main Street?
So soon? Was she ready? No. She needed confirmation that she wasn’t crazy. She and Janine had a date to watch reality TV and eat junk food. Those binge-fests were her one guilty pleasure. Tonight, she’d talk it through with her, just to make sure she wasn’t making a mistake.
With a deep breath, she answered Banner. How about tomorrow after work? I get out at 4.
She stared at the phone, expecting another quick response.
Tomorrow, 4:30. I’m buying.
After confirming, she tucked her phone away and turned to her computer. Maybe writing the discharge report on Sean would keep Banner out of her mind. She had a whole day until confrontation time. Weird, she’d never been shy about confrontation before. Of course, she’d never had someone affect her the way Banner did either.
Submissive training shouldn’t be distracting her at work, making her feel horny all the time, and screwing with her emotions. That was proof enough things were getting out of control. Tomorrow she would end their arrangement and agree to stay friends.
That was the plan, anyway.
***
“A slave?” Janine grimaced, holding out a glass of iced tea. “That’s hard-core, even for me.”
“I know.” Kate took the drink, and they walked back to the living room. It was Janine’s turn to host their date night. “The chemistry is there, but we can’t keep going like this if that’s all he’ll settle for. Both of us are too stubborn to budge.”
“Well, some things you just can’t force.” Janine gave her a regretful smile, then sat down on the overstuffed couch. “It’s not meant to be, I guess.”
Kate took a seat next to her as she contemplated her friend’s words. Wasn’t meant to be. Did she even believe in that? Fate and destiny and all that shit? No. She was way too much of a realist. Besides, other couples in the lifestyle had to have the same problem once in a while.
“How did it work for you and Chris? You didn’t match up straight away, right?”
She laughed. “Nooo. Far from it.”
Although Kate had only met Janine two years ago, they’d quickly formed a deep friendship. Janine was already married at the time. She’d hid her kink for about a year, but then started slipping. Kate was well-versed enough from erotic novels to recognize the signs. When she’d asked Janine point-blank, she had let out a big breath and said, “Thank god I don’t have to fake vanilla anymore!”
Kate had been perving their relationship ever since, slightly envious but mostly glad for Janine. It wasn’t often someone found true love and kinks that lined up. Her friend had hit the jackpot. If only she were as lucky.
“I hated Chris when we first met, remember? Ugh. He was an insufferable know-it-all prick!”
Kate burst out laughing. Most Doms were a bit cocky, but she couldn’t imagine Chris acting like a prick. He’d always been sweet to her. “Yeah. You ended up changing him though.”
“Sort of. We had a rocky start, but I saw the sweetness under all the bravado. It was because of how he was raised. Strict military dad. I mean, Chris has always been dominant, but I knew he wasn’t naturally a jerk. He was trying too hard to impress girls.” Shaking her head, she added, “And he’s turned into a total softie since.”
Kate sighed longingly. She wanted to say that about somebody one day.
“Well, not a total softy. He can be a mean fucker.” Janine squirmed a bit, giving the impression they’d played recently.
She chuckled. “You love it.”
Janine smiled and sighed in that lovesick way girls do. A moment later she snapped out of it. “Hey, you know what we should do?”
“What?” The mischievous look in her eye made Kate wonder.
“Watch porn.”
“What?” she yelped. Not exactly their regular movie-night choice.
“For research.” She shrugged. “You can’t exactly swear off something you don’t understand, right? Let’s see if we can find some videos of the Master/slave dynamic so you know what it’s like.”
“That’s a terrible idea.” Watch porn with her best friend? Her cheeks already felt warm. Though it was more likely to become a giggle fest than anything hot and heavy, she still crinkled her nose. “Is Chris okay with you watching porn?”
Janine rolled her eyes. “Don’t be such a baby. And, yes, he’s okay with it. He fully supports anything having to do with me and porn.”
Kate gave her a skeptical look.
“Well,” she added as a second thought, “short of starring in it, of course. Come on.” She jumped to her feet and practically skipped to the computer desk on the other side of the room. “This’ll be fun.”
With a sigh, Kate gave in. “Might as well.” Maybe it would be an educational experience. Awkward, but she should stay open to learning something.
If this slave thing wasn’t that bad, maybe she and Banner had a future after all.
Janine sat in front of the computer, and Kate pulled up a seat next to her. She didn’t have much experience finding porn online—erotic books were more her thing—so she hoped Janine knew what she was doing.
A few clicks with the mouse and Janine had a kink site up. Ads played on the sidebar, some so extreme Kate had to look away.
“Ugh. Is there a way to get rid of those?” She pointed to the video clip showing anal fisting in an endless loop. “I mean, I get that’s some people’s kink.” She had her own anal kink, so don’t throw stones and all that. “But it’s too hard-core for me.”
Janine laughed. “You ain’t seen nothing yet, girl.” After typing in a few keywords, a list of video clips appeared. “Hmm. Most porn is hit or miss, so we’ll just have to wade our way through to find the good stuff.”
She clicked on the first video. A woman wearing a corset, a thong, and leather boots strolled casually around her sub—a naked girl on all fours on the floor. So stereotypical. Did all Dommes dress like that? She couldn’t imagine Banner wearing leather pants and a mask, yet that was how they were most often represented, whether male or female.
“Look at you,” the Domme spat. “Pathetic slut. Whore.” She accentuated each insult with a slap on the sub’s ass. “You don’t even deserve to lick my boots.”
Kate cringed. A lot of subs liked humiliation, but she wasn’t one of them. If Banner ever called her a pathetic slut whore, she’d probably cry.
Janine paused the video, then looked back at her. “Doing anything for you?”
She shook her head, eyes wide.
“Okay. Slave porn, take two.” She clicked on the next video.
Another sub on all fours, a man this time, wearing clothing, at least. A slender woman in a pencil skirt and blouse walked up to him and paused. Just when Kate thought she’d take out a ruler to spank him, she sat down on him. Right on his back! Then she crossed her legs primly as she stroked his ass.
“Have you been a good little slave?” she purred.
“Yes, Mistress.”
“Did you take the garbage out?”
“Yes, Mistress.” His voice was strained.
“And you did the dishes?”
He hesitated, and she reached down and grabbed his balls. He howled.
“I said, did you do the dishes, slave?”
“No, Mistress,” he panted. “I . . . I ran out of time.”
The woman released his junk and rubbed her hands on her thighs. “Do you think you deserve punishment for that, slave?”
“Yes, Mistress.”
She stood, then motioned to him. “Up. Get into punishment position while I get the dragon tail.”
His face contorted as he knelt on the floor. It was clear he had no love for the dragon tail. Kate couldn’t blame him. It sounded wicked.
“Those sting like a son of a bitch,” Janine whispered.
“You have one?”
“No, but I’ve heard they’re awful. Chris prefers the cane for punishment. Though that can be pretty bad too.”
“Does he punish you for not doing chores?”
Janine whirled on her. “What? Are you crazy? No way! I’m no June Cleaver.”
Kate let out a breath of relief.
“I get punished for being bratty or disrespectful.” She motioned to the messy living room. “Take a look around. I’d be beaten black-and-blue if I was punished for not doing housework.” She laughed. “But I know some slaves who have that dynamic. They like it though.” After a pause, she stared at the laundry basket on the floor. “Maybe my house would be cleaner if we tried it. God knows my mother would be pleased.”
Kate nudged her. “Turn this off. I don’t like this one.”
“Okay. This one looks better.” She switched the video to a girl, completely naked, getting spanked over a slightly older man’s knee.
She thrashed and wailed. “Daddy, please! Stop!”
“Mmm.” Janine muttered, “I love when they beg.”