His eyes opened, zeroing in on hers, a smile lighting his face. “Hello there. Ready for your smoothie?"
"I think I'd like to swim a few laps, first,” she said, walking towards the shallow end.
He met her at the bottom of the steps, pulling her into a completely vanilla kiss that made her feel special, treasured—but wasn't arousing. She pulled away, giving him a peck on the nose before pushing off from the steps head first into the water and powering her way towards the far wall. She managed five laps before she was winded and ready to get out.
He was sitting in the shade, his legs stretched out in front of him, drinking his frozen concoction through a large straw. She joined him, noting she had the same drink waiting.
"What's in it?"
"Bananas, blueberries, raspberries, honeydew melon, white grapes—all frozen before going into the blender."
She took a sip and her eyes went wide at the sharp, sweet taste. He laughed, and started talking about an upcoming fundraiser for the local arts council.
They chatted easily for an hour, neither mentioning power exchange. When both had finished their drink they returned to the water, relaxing on pool noodles while their conversation lazily skipped from one subject to the next.
"Want to take in a drive-in movie this evening?” Zach asked. “Should be a great night for it."
"There aren't any more drive-ins; they went the way of the dinosaurs."
"No, there's one just over the Alabama state line, down I-59; about forty-five minutes away."
"Really? What's playing?"
"Don't know, let me get dried off and grab my tablet."
Dana was surprised to discover they were playing first-run movies, and tonight was a double feature, the first show one she'd wanted to see.
Zach looked at the times. “If we stay for both shows it'll be after midnight before we get in bed. My days are flexible, but if you need to be somewhere at eight in the morning it might not work."
"No early meetings, as long as I'm in the office by ten I should be fine. If we run by my place on the way out of town I can dress appropriate for a drive-in and get a suit for tomorrow. You sure you want me another night?"
"I'm positive. Last night I had my beautiful, wonderful pet. I'd like to have my girlfriend by my side tonight."
How fucked up was it she didn't mind being called his pet, but objected to the title of girlfriend? He was waiting for her to respond, so she fumbled for something to say. “Girlfriend? I'm sorry; you caught me off guard. Aren't we moving kind of fast?"
He raised an eyebrow, tilted his head. “Doesn't feel fast to me, but I can change the wording and say I'd like to have you spend the night as my equal. We still have to talk about things—what you liked and didn't like—but I get the feeling you aren't ready yet, so I'm giving you space.” He walked to the edge of the pool and sat, swinging his legs into the water. “I love your responsiveness, and I'm in awe of how quickly you can eroticize power play."
She'd been floating on her back, but sat up, grabbing a noodle for balance. Something he'd said long ago was niggling at her, and now seemed a good time to bring it up.
"You once said Bethany didn't have a say in whether you took on other sex slaves—how often did you do that?"
"Not often, and none were long term. I played with others at parties, and a friend lent his wife to me when he went out of town on business—he said her behavior improved after spending four or five days with me, but after Bethany passed he didn't want me around his wife anymore.” He shrugged. “Maybe it was only safe when I was married? I don't know."
"You lent her to others?"
"Yes, but there were only a few I trusted with her. She hated it at times, but she also craved being treated as a sex object, so I gave it to her several times a year. Three men on her at once, one in each hole, so to speak. Occasionally just one very demanding man. Everyone wore a condom. You're not sure about this—Garnet didn't lend you out, did he?"
"Nope, I was his, and he was quite possessive. It worked the other way around, too. He was mine."
"Does the idea of being lent out appeal to you?"
She shook her head. “No, it doesn't. Is that important to you?"
"I like the power, the implied ownership, but I'd be okay without it. I'm not the jealous sort; I enjoyed watching her with others, knowing she belonged to me.” He pushed his hair away from his face. “It's not a deal breaker, if it's a hard limit for you."
Dana couldn't believe the size of the movie screen, and decided she loved the carnival atmosphere of people walking around, getting food from the concession stand, and eating it picnic style near their cars. The crowd was friendly, with neighbors chatting as they waited for darkness to fall. Zach had brought a Frisbee and they found a grassy area, laughing and cutting up as they exchanged it. One of her tosses went wide and Zach ended up practically in someone's picnic to retrieve it. She walked over to talk when she realized his conversation with the couple was turning into more than a brief apology, and he reached for her hand and pulled her to him as she neared, putting his arm around her waist and drawing her into him. “I was just apologizing for your wild throw and noted their use of a UPS backup unit to power their fan and radio, and started talking shop with Mike here. Mike and Marcie, this is Dana."