Protege(47)

“Fuck off.”

“Relax, Jude. She’s sexy. It’s natural to want to f*ck her. Why deny yourself?” He moved the pile and sat.

“Because it’s not necessary and you know it. D/s is about more than sex. So is BDSM, for that matter.”

“Yes, but if sex were a drawback, it’s not a bad one. Stop being so hard on yourself. She consented.”

“I don’t want to mislead her.”

“How will you mislead her, Jude, when she’s only doing this to have information added to the system so she can find a husband? That doesn’t match up with your criteria. Besides, it was spelled out in the contract. Unless you’re suddenly changing your stance on marriage.”

“No.”

“I didn’t think so. You’ve disqualified yourself as an eligible partner for her. Just remind her that you don’t intend to marry again and calm down.”

“She shouldn’t have known I was married once.” He pursed his lips. “You know how fine the line is for submissives during this stage. I don’t want her to confuse the overwhelming emotions associated with D/s with love.”

“So tell her that—explicitly.”

He scowled. He shouldn’t have to. It shouldn’t be such a damn effort to exercise the little bit of control needed to teach a novice a thing or two about the lifestyle.

Jude sighed. “She’s absolutely submissive. It’s rare to find someone so polarized.”

Ezra shrugged. “Maybe not so polarized. She manages a classroom. That takes some governance.”

He thought about how pleasant their meals had been and how she made his bed each day. “She does a hell of a lot more around here than Tiffany ever did.”

“Well, I’m not surprised, but remember it’s only day two. Check back in on that around day twenty. Fuck, there was a time Lea used to color-coordinate my socks. Those days are long gone.”

Jude chuckled. “Thus the need for a second wife?”

His friend smiled, but his frustration was easily read. “None of the new applications are a match for us.”

“She’ll show up eventually.” Jude truly hoped that was the truth.

“I wish there were a way for us to find her, let her know we’re waiting.”

They could wait a lifetime, which didn’t need mentioning. “You know we can’t openly promote. The glitch with Collette finding us on the web was one thing. It would be a nightmare for word to spread. We don’t need all those Grey wannabes knocking on our doors with floggers holstered at their hip and greedy little suppressed egos begging to bully someone.”

“The impostors out there are scary. The moment I hear anyone asking for a BDSM relationship I turn in the opposite direction. They’ll never understand that BDSM is something one does. It’s not the definitive qualification of a relationship. It seems D/s is as confused as ever since erotic romance took off.”

“People are on sensory overload, their suppressed fantasies saturated with hints of kink they don’t understand. You can’t fault them for being unclear, Ezra. We were once ignorant too.”

“True. I’m just being bitter. It’s hard enough to find one soul mate. Finding two is near impossible.”

“You can’t rush it. She could be accidentally opening her first bodice ripper as we speak and wondering where that tingle in her *’s coming from. Every thirty seconds another pervert’s born.”

Ezra rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”

Jude chuckled, some of his stress evaporating. “I want Lea to come on to Collette to see how she reacts. I want it to be when they’re alone, but we’re in the house.”

“When? She’s still in trouble from last night. I don’t want to reward her bad behavior with a treat like that.”

Jude grinned, reminded again of how the women gossiped. “I assume she confessed sometime after everyone left.”

“That’s probably what she wanted, but Jasmine broke. Once she told Malik, we noticed something shift and the rest came clean. I imagine they’re all standing around contemplating their poor choice right now.”

He chuckled. “Lea loves a good spanking.”

“Not the sort she got last night. She’s very sorry, by the way.”

“She’s forgiven. Please let her know.” He shifted. “How would next week work?”

“That should be fine. She’ll try for a bargain, though. You promised her a favor.”

He rolled his eyes. Collette’s opinion on the fact shouldn’t matter, but for some reason he hesitated. “I’m rethinking my promise to her.”

Ezra’s grin was smug. “I knew you’d take it back. You’re not the man you used to be, Jude.”

“Apparently.”

Ezra stood. “What are your next plans?”

“I want to show her the difference between BDSM and abuse.”

“Good place to start.” Ezra nodded. “I have to get going. Lea’s waiting for me.”

“Make sure you deliver my forgiveness.”

“I will. As well as your wish to repay her favor with a counteroffer. Good luck with your protégé.”

Jude sat for several minutes debating what would happen tomorrow and how he would begin their lesson. There seemed to be a universal misconception that BDSM equaled fanatical kink, or worse, violence, and he wanted to expel any such assumptions.