Page 47 of Master My Love

“Are you leaving?” she asked in surprise. “Aren’t you going to stay and explore as a graduate?”

“No, my uh, D—” She paused, uncertain. What was he to her exactly, her dom, her boyfriend, or maybe her sponsor? She needed to get this clarified soon. “My friend won’t be here until later.”

“Master Eric, you mean? Everyone’s buzzing about the two of you.” She looked sad, suddenly. “I heard he was out of town. That’s bad timing.”

“He’s working but is supposed to be back tonight. So I’ve got a few hours to kill. I thought I’d do some shopping for club wear. Any suggestions?”

Julianna beamed. “Have I! I know all the best fetwear shops, and I have coupons.” She linked arms with her. “Your car or mine?”

“You want to go, too?”

“Yeah!” She suddenly turned hesitant. “Unless you don’t want me to.”

“I’d love the company. I’m not downtown very often. By myself, I’ll probably get lost and not arrive until midnight, and then where would I be?”

She giggled. “Over a spanking bench for a paddling, knowing Master Eric.”

“Been there. Done that. Don’t mind if I do,” Val quipped.

Julianna’s laughter filled the stairwell. “We’ll shop and afterward, have dinner at my place,” she suggested, excited again. “And I can help you get ready for tonight.”

“That’s so nice of you to offer, but I don’t think your mistress likes me very much.” Val certainly didn’t want to have another run-in with Tara. “Maybe we should go out,” she suggested as an alternative.

“Why would that matter?”

Val hesitated. Julianna didn’t seem concerned, but the domme had taken an instant disliking to her. Did she dare risk it?

“I imagine she’s taking it easy after the punishment yesterday,” the younger woman surmised. “Samson was ticked, if you didn’t notice.”

“He seemed pretty calm to me.” And frighteningly methodical. Samson was more dom than Val could ever see herself handling, but then she wouldn’t dare behave the way Tara had, or say some of the outright taunting remarks she’d made while bound bare to a cross.

“Master Sam only uses the loopy Johnny when he’s fed up with her behavior,” Julianna explained. “He’s had to punish her before for poaching submissives. To try to do so again was defiant, but to one who’d caught Master Eric’s eye...” She shook her head sadly. “She acts like this on purpose to get his attention. It’s all a game to her, and as usual, she accomplished her goal.”

That Tara would dare tempt his anger for such a reward was hard to understand. “Her butt looked awfully red. I wasn’t close enough to see for sure, but I thought I saw a few welts.”

“Not surprising. She’s a masochist, Val,” Julianna told her softly. “She gets off on the pain.”

“Aren’t most submissives a tad masochistic? Or we wouldn’t do all this, would we? All the spanking, clamping, and plugging and...well, I’m kind of new, so I sure there is much, much more.”

“True, but she needs the pain for sex to be good. Most of us can get off without it, not Tara.”

“Hm...it’s a lot to take in. I’m going to need to do a lot more research on all of this.”

“Research?” Julianna repeated.

“Yeah, I’m a clinical social worker and do couples’ therapy. I’ve been thinking about expanding my client base and after I learn more, offering kink-friendly services. After meeting Lyla and Marco and Tara, I think I could be of help.”

“And with those two, you’re merely scraping the surface. There’s more drama at Decadence LA than in a soap opera.You’d have all the business you could want here.” Julianna was only half joking, and her eyes turned serious when she said, “Some members are seriously messed up. Master Eric and the applicant committee try to screen for prior mental health issues, but there have been a few who slipped through the cracks.”

“Unfortunately, a quarter of the population has mental health issues. I’m not sure BDSM practitioners have cornered the messed-up market.”

“Whatever you say,” Julianna replied. “You’re the expert.”

“It’s true. Maybe it’s more prevalent because we’re near Hollywood.”

“Now that I’d believe.”

They laughed together until Julianna stopped behind a sporty Mustang convertible. “This is me. Want me to drive?”

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