Page 102 of Truth

We lay together for a long time before I remembered something else he’d said. “What’s subspace?”

He rolled us so we were on our sides and looking at each other. “It’s where you experience a type of high from sensation. It’s described by some as an out-of-body experience. Some subs experience it often. For others, it’s rarer. It depends on the person.”

“Is... is it a bad thing?”

“No. Not at all.” He ran his fingers along my face before tangling them in my hair. “It does create a shock to your system, however, which as your Dom I need to be aware of so that I know how best to take care of you after.” I was still a little confused on what it was, but as long as he would be there to take care of me, I wasn’t too worried.

Closing my eyes, I leaned into his hand.

“We need to go take our shower.”

I groaned. The last thing I wanted to do was move. I was so comfortable.

He laughed and kissed me. His lips lingered for a moment too long, reminding me of other things.

When he pulled back, his face was serious. “I love you.”

I smiled. “I love you, too.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Brianna

I was starting to dread our workouts. After I’d followed the routine Brad had set up for me, Stephan had me stand on the weight-lifting mats and practice the self-defense stuff with him. I hated it. While I was getting better at the first move, the second—once again—left me near tears, because no matter how much he encouraged me, I couldn’t cause him harm.

Just when I thought I’d reached my breaking point, Stephan called it quits. We took our shower and made breakfast. It wasn’t fancy, just fruit and some muffins I’d made the other day. He praised me again for how good they were, and I blushed.

With breakfast out of the way, Stephan and I curled up on the couch to read for a while. Or I thought we were going to read for a while. I was on my side with my head in his lap, ready to read, when he reached for my book and closed it. Glancing up, I realized his book was closed, too.

I shut my eyes as he ran his hand through my hair. “We need to talk about last night and how you reacted to Justin’s birthday party.”

I stopped breathing for a second and opened my eyes. The conversation he was talking about came back to me as if I were sitting there again in the club.

Female entertainment.

“What if they were like me? What if they had no choice? What if—”

“Breathe, Brianna.”

Pinching my eyes shut, I tried to push the images out of my head. I felt Stephan touching me, his hands calming. Rolling over, I buried my head in his waist and held tight to the fabric of his T-shirt.

“That’s it. Good girl. I’m guessing I know where your mind went last night, and just now, which is why we need to talk about this. Phillip was talking about strippers.”

I knew what strippers were. Although I’d never seen any in person, I’d watched movies and television shows. “They... they dance and... and take off their clothes?”

Looking up, I saw him nod. “That’s right. They get paid to dance and tease while removing their clothing.”

“I don’t understand. Why?”

Stephan chuckled, his chest vibrating beneath me. “Men are very visual creatures, and the female form, even if we can’t touch, has a very stimulating effect.”

I thought about what he said for a few minutes. It didn’t make a lot of sense to me until I thought about how I liked looking at Stephan, watching him dress... or in the shower. Was it the same? “They only look?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

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