Page 30 of Surrender

She chews on her pencil, her bottom lip denting in a way that is so fucking innocently sexy.

She hesitates for a moment, unsure if she wants to tell me or not. She doesn't trust me, and I hate that.

"I'm looking up prostitution law in DC."

I raise an eyebrow at her and her eyes widen. "Oh. Shit. I'm sorry, I got sidetracked. I'll focus on the background checks again. I'm sorry."

Her cheeks pinken as she lowers her head back to the laptop in front of her.

I stand and walk to her, leaning my hip against her table.

"Tell me why." It's not quite my dom voice, but I'm testing giving her orders; how obedient she is. Maybe she'll be a brat, and a total turn off.

She chews the end of her pencil again, looking up at me with those huge blue eyes. I gently take the pencil from her mouth and wait for her. She sighs. "Well, I was thinking about what you told me - how you provide a safe space to explore. But then my ADHD got the better of me and I started to wonder if instead of just providing a safe space you could provide the experience. So, I looked at the ten most popular porn sites on the internet and the most popular categories are stepsiblings or stepparents and cheating wives." She taps the notebook next to her withlists of categories of kink, in order. "So, then I was looking up prostitution law because we all know about the DC Madame, so she must have had a loophole. But I can't find one. I was thinking we could hire people to play the stepsibling, stepparent role." She taps her pencil against the desk in rhythm, still clearly lost to her mind.

"What if we had bracelets to identify what kind of step-role the person was interested in? Like... blue for a stepmom wanting a stepson? Green for a step-brother-and-sister type situation? And trust the members to role play? That's a thing, right? Role playing in the bedroom? And then the wives thing sorts itself and we can just have a themed night for married couples who are willing to share."

She looks up at me with nervous anticipation.

I'm floored. Setting up the format of the business, the financials, the background checks, the marketing, and the legality of running a membership like we do was years in the making. Creating a safe space like this is innovative. We're the only club of this caliber in DC. We did research into other clubs and their offerings, but they never took it to the next level.

"Matching kinks?"

"Oh! That's a great idea! What if we have everyone fill out their kinks or what they're looking for that night, since I'm assuming kinks change? And then we can notify them with like those little buzzers at restaurants when your table is ready, and they can meet their kink partner in one of the rooms!"

I sit and watch her in silence, admiring how willing she is to push boundaries and go to the next level. It's not enough to have a successful club, she wants to offer experiences unique to the individual. And she's right. Stepsibling porn is popular but how many people actually have stepsiblings they could engage with sexually? It's the taboo nature of it that's appealing. The fearof getting caught. The excitement of doing something you know you're not supposed to.

Could we replicate that in the club environment? Would people want to? Would it be too much to play act?

There's only one way to find out.

Chapter eighteen

Serenity

Ifeel better after our talk but still confused about some things.

He said he was attracted to me, but he hasn't acted on it. Will he ever? Or was that just like a "thought you should know" and that's it?

And what about my attraction to him? Is that it? Just two mutually attracted people, who live together and what? Never touch? Never talk about it again?

The uncertainty and racing thoughts follow me home that night. He seemed more relaxed in the car on the way home, but neither of us spoke. I took my shower and put on the shirt he left for me.

I slept in bed next to him, listening to the rhythm of his breaths, but struggled not to squirm.

We did our morning run in silence, like usual, and ate breakfast in silence, like usual, but while I was spiraling, he seemed cool and collected.

Work at The Envelope is getting easier and I'm growing more confident in my role. Mr. Volkov, or Adrian as he likes to remind me to call him, comes in a few times a week and sits in myarea, but he hasn't made any more advances. He just watches me silently, before pulling the same girl that looks like me into the back. She doesn't seem to mind because she smiles and giggles every time.

That calms my anxiety about him a little. Clearly, he's not all bad if she's eager to be chosen by him again and again.

I have a break a few moments after he retreats to the rooms, and curiosity gets the best of me.

I walk towards the curtained hallway that leads to the back rooms, eyeing the guard warily. He gives me a tight nod of his head in acknowledgement but doesn't smile.

I hold the curtain aside and slip inside, nerves making the palms of my hands tingle.

I have no idea what to expect. The hallway is dark. There are five large glass walls on the right and a couple making out in the shadows on the left.

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