He groaned and said, “Yes, Brent."
"What's wrong with it? Seemed fine when you planted me on top of it."
"I put a condom on it before we brought you to him. While he was mounted on the statue, I ran a dozen needles through the skin on both sides; and once I had him in the sling I flogged his cock and balls quite thoroughly before giving him one strike of the single tail just under the head. My guess is the orgasm I allowed him last night caused as much pain as it did pleasure."
Jacob gave a sigh of indulgence, the sound of someone biting into scrumptious chocolate. Dana laughed. “The exquisite kind of pain?"
"Yes, very. He's so good to me."
Dana eased herself into the seat and Max pulled the built-in tray up and over, sliding her fruit bowl and water bottle on it before sitting beside her and reaching for his coffee. Brent had suggested they eat breakfast in the media room, where the chairs had thick cushions as well as trays for food and drink. It turned out to be an impressive home theater, and he'd been right about the comfort factor.
She began the conversation while Max was drinking his coffee. “I get why you want to talk—to assure I'm okay with how far you took me. We had a super intense scene, the kind you normally work up to after you've established trust."
He started to say something, but she shook her head and kept going, wanting him to understand she wasn't holding today's pain against him, and appreciated he took the risk to give her what she needed. “Submissives have to trust the Dom during the scene, but the Dom has to trust the sub after it's over—especially if there are marks. Some people might be upset once the endorphins wear off, but I assure you I'm not. Thank you, by the way. I had no idea how badly I'd missed...” She trailed off, not sure of how to finish the sentence. Had she missed the pain? The trust? The surrender? Being taken so far into subspace?
"What we did wasn't a normal scene, Dana. I've never taken anyone half as far before, and I'm somewhat notorious for how far I can take people."
His words hit her like a slap in the face. She'd had a grape in her hands, ready to pop it into her mouth, but dropped it into the bowl on autopilot. Speechless.
"I don't think that came out right. Let me try again. I know we can't have a relationship—you have your life in Chattanooga, and I'm not ready for anything serious. I'd like us to be friends, though.” He shook his head. “I'd want to keep in touch even if we hadn't gone so far, but we shared something... intense, last night.” He stroked her arm, and she was thankful for the contact. He continued. “I was connected to you. I knew what you were feeling, where you were, what you needed. It's like I was in your head for part of it, and that's rare for me."
"So you're not saying I'm a freak of nature?"
"No! Not at all. Besides, if you're a freak, what would that make me? A monster?"
"You're not a monster."
"And you're not a freak. With that out of the way, I don't think you should drive home today. Brent said he'd talk to you about it. Has he?"
"Yeah, he said I'm welcome to stay as long as I need.” She took a bite of cantaloupe, closed her eyes briefly as she swallowed the juicy sweetness, and continued. “I can work from here tomorrow via phone and email, but I have an on-site meeting Tuesday."
She did an internal inventory of her pain level while seated. “My ass is sore, but bearable."
"But your back's a different story.” His gaze was compassionate, but not sorry. She was thankful—it would diminish the experience if he were remorseful.
"Right—but I'm not complaining. It was totally worth it."
"If you don't mind my asking, how did you deal with healing time... before."
"He planned the extreme stuff around my days off, and he drove us home. He had lots of ways to deliver pain without causing damage; we only did this kind of thing maybe three or four times a year."
Max was quiet and Dana's heart fell into her stomach. “Wait. You're feeling guilty because you enjoyed hurting me? Please don't. Oh Max, I needed this. I hadn't realized how much of myself I was denying by not seeking it out.” She shook her head, not wanting to go there yet. “Now that I've had it again, I have to figure out how to... I don't know. It's not very submissive to demand this sort of thing, is it?"
He smiled. “I'm not a Dom, and when you're with me you aren't a sub, you're a bottom."
"Be honest, this scratched an itch for you, too. Didn't it?"
"Yes, it did. Enough that if you weren't at the start of a budding romance, I'd be talking to you about exploring how far we could push the edges, and how to take you where I did last night without marking you up so much. But you're ready for a relationship, and I'm not in a place to make commitments.” His smile was sad. “Our timing sucks, but that's okay. I wish you the best with him, and hope it works out."