Page 103 of Truth

“Why wouldn’t they want to touch?”

He smiled. “Trust me, they want to touch. Strippers, at least most of them, aren’t prostitutes. The men they’re dancing for agree ahead of time that while the stripper can touch them, they can’t touch her.”

I knew what prostitutes were. “They don’t have sex with them?”

“No.”

Although I knew sex wasn’t required to cause pain, knowing sex wasn’t involved made me feel better. “So this... stripper... she danced and... took her clothes off while they watched?”

“Yes.”

“It’s what she wanted?”

“Yes, sweetheart. It’s what she wanted. No one forced her to do anything.”

The weight lifted from my chest, and I could breathe normally once more.

“Brianna, people are going to say things, especially when you’re outside these walls, that will sometimes upset you, given what you’ve been through. I want you to try to do something for me, okay?”

I nodded.

“If that happens, I want you to try to remember this conversation. Things may not always be as they seem on the surface, and not everyone is going to know your history and watch what they say. But if something happens, if you hear something, remove yourself from the situation as quickly as possible and come find me. If something is truly wrong, I’ll do something. I promise you that.” He cradled my face in his hands. “And if not, we’ll talk about it, like we’re doing now.”

“Okay.”

He smiled and leaned down to brush his lips against mine. “Good girl.”

Handing me my book, he encouraged me to get comfortable again and start reading. He picked up his own book and flipped to where the bookmark held his place. Settling in, he held the book in one hand while the other played with my hair. Sighing, I relaxed and picked up where I’d left off in my book.

The whole thing would have been perfect if not for my apprehension about what was going to happen that afternoon. As the day wore on, I began to get nervous, and my story could no longer hold my attention. I’d read the same page at least ten times. We were going to Logan and Lily’s. To watch a scene. I had no idea what that meant exactly, but I knew it had to be significant, or Stephan wouldn’t have told me ahead of time.

Stephan and I had just sat down to lunch when he must have decided I’d been quiet for too long. “What’s on your mind, Brianna?”

Since I’d just taken a bite of the pasta we’d made together, I didn’t answer right away. I knew I needed to be honest. “I’m nervous. About today.”

He took my free hand in his and massaged my fingers. “There’s nothing to be nervous about. We’re observing. That’s all.”

I nodded. He’d said that before, but I couldn’t help how I felt. I didn’t want anything to happen. Not to me. Not to Lily. She was my friend.

“Do you recall our conversation about hard limits?”

We’d both stopped eating. “Yes.”

“Lily has a list of them. I’ve seen them. Logan would never violate those limits. Any worthy Dominant wouldn’t.” He pulled me out of my chair and into his lap. “Brianna, Ian wasn’t a worthy Dominant. He wasn’t a Dominant at all, in my opinion. You’ve lived with me for almost three months now. I hope I’ve shown you there is a difference.”

At the mention of Ian, he hugged me, and I welcomed it. “You’re not like him.”

He kissed the side of my face. “No. I’m not. And neither is Logan.”

I nodded.

“Come on, love. You need to finish your lunch so we can leave. I told Logan two o’clock, and I don’t want to be late.”

On the drive over, he reminded me again of what would happen. Lily and I were going to talk. Then we would watch Lily and Logan in a scene. After the scene, I was going to talk to Lily again. Stephan said they were doing this because they didn’t want there to be any doubt in my mind that Lily wasn’t completely okay with what happened.

Stephan also gave me some rules I had to follow while I was there. I was to sit on his lap during the scene and watch the entire time. He also said I was not to talk to Logan or Lily during the scene, or in any other way try to interfere or interrupt it. And lastly, he told me that once we arrived home we would discuss what had happened throughout the scene and how I felt about it.

With less than a minute to spare, Stephan knocked on Logan and Lily’s door. I was trying not to fidget. I didn’t want to disappoint him or get into trouble.

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