Page 22 of Resist

I return her nod. “We always have someone on site who is trained in CPR and basic first aid. We have our peer support team for when things go wrong. And we also like having someone who is really good at answering basic kink 101 questions that we direct the newer attendees to.”

“Sounds like you have it all covered.” She sounds impressed but her face is impassive.

“We try to be thorough, but as much as we try to cover all our bases and minimize as much risk as we can, occasionally things do go wrong.”

She tips her head to the side. “What kind of questions?”

“Hm?”

“You said basic kink 101 questions. Like what?”

“What does BDSM mean? What is a dom? Do doms use the aftercare needs of their sub as their own aftercare? What’s the most common way to help a dom with their aftercare? Can doms sense when their sub is going to drop? It can be anything at all.”

“Those are some good questions.” She muses while circling the champagne around in her glass. “Though there is no ‘most common’ way to help anyone. Everyone’s different, everyone’s needs are different, and trying to come up with a one-size-fits-all answer to a moving target never ends well.”

“Exactly. But if you’re new, you don’t know that.”

She yawns, then slaps her hand over her mouth. “Sorry. It’s been a while since I’ve had so much physical exertion.”

I give her a warm smile. “It’s okay. It’s another questionpeople often ask as newbies. Why the hell am I so tired after play? I think some people think we exaggerate how tiring kink can be. Unless you’ve tried it yourself you don’treallyget it, you know?”

She nods. “I forgot how bone-deep it can be. My body feels so heavy, boneless, like it might take a battery change to get me moving again now that I’ve sat my ass on this couch.”

I can’t help grinning. “That’s the sign of a good session, that you’re feeling it everywhere.”

She narrows her eyes. “Are you searching for confirmation it was good for me?”

I shrug, an unfamiliar burn working its way up under my collar and into my cheeks. “Maybe?”

She sips her drink, not letting go of my gaze. “I can’t remember the last time someone other than me made me come. I don’t think I’veevercome twice in a session, and I don’t think I can come up with a time my body felt as drained as I do right now.”

Her words are positive, but her tone is so level I can’t tell whether or not she’s deeming it a compliment until she leans toward me and strokes my face with a softness that almost contradicts her tenor.

“I had a lot of fun tonight, Sterling. Thank you.”

While in this instance, it’s generally the bottom in the scene—I.E.me—who will be more worn out than the top, from the way her eyes are heavy, I can tell it took a lot out of her.

“How old are you, Cecelia?”

Her brows twitch, but there’s little other visible reaction from her. “Didn’t your mother tell you never to ask a woman her age?”

I shrug. “Mom says age is just a number. She says growing old is a privilege.”

She falls quiet for a long moment. “Thirty five. Butsome days I feel like I’m way older.” She nibbles her lip after opening up, like she wishes she hadn’t shared.

“I’m thirty seven.”

She purses her lips. “Men age so much better than women. It’s so unfair. You get to pee standing up,andage gracefully.”

“I think you’re aging pretty nicely, ma’am. Tell me about your kink history.” Kink seems to be a safer subject with her, a topic of conversation she’s happy to open up on, or at least engage. “Have you ever had a full time submissive before?”

The question seems to take her aback, her brows twitch, and her features turn contemplative as she shakes her head. “Never really had a long-term kink partner.” She flashes an obviously fake smile. “Never found someone who could handle me for longer than a couple nights of fun.”

Her voice is light, but there’s a heaviness in the air that suggests she may believe that more deeply than the joke she’s presenting it to be. “I can’t imagine that to be true.”

She strikes me as the kind of woman who could have any man she wanted. If she hasn’t ever had a long-term relationship, chances are it’s because she didn’t want it. Not because no one could stick with her.

She nods. “It’s true. Kind of. I was in a long term non-kink relationship, but it was never going anywhere. I stuck with it more because I thought that’s what was expected of me. You experienced it yourself earlier. I’m not an easy woman to make orgasm. Despite being a domme and preferring submissive men, I haven’t been able to find anyone who can submit to meandgive me an orgasm. Never mind agoodorgasm. Turns out it’s a hard combination to find. And not a lot of the people I’ve met have been willing to try.”

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