He grins. “Classic power play. Your submissive was responding to my Dominant. In the physical, your body confused the endorphin and hormones rush as pleasure. In all actuality, that’s your body’s natural protection reactions, but when you’re doing it with someone you trust and love, the pain becomes pleasurable,” he tells me. “If you were a patient of mine, I wouldn’t suggest you playing around with asphyxiation unless you knew for certain your partner knows exactly what they’re doing. It’s not something to take lightly because there are very damaging repercussions if it’s done incorrectly.”
“Well I’ll count myself lucky that my lover is so well-versed in BDSM-y stuff,” I murmur, snuggling in closer to him.
“BDSM-y stuff.” He chuckles.
I nod against him. “Not to be confused with your shrinky stuff.”
He snorts. “All right, goddess. Let’s get you inside. I guess we’ll count this session as complete. Your hour is up.”
I grin drunkenly. “With a happy ending, no less.”Chapter 20Astrid, Five days later“Okay, let’s see. I’m done with Ashley, Tracy, Michelle, Lecia, Amanda, Rachel, Emilie, and Tiffany. Jamie, Tina, Caitlyn, Maygen, Stephanie, and Mary are getting their foundation on. Next up are Crystal, Aimée, Erica, Lacie, Janet, and Leslie. And then Courtney, Laura, Sonja, and Jess should be here before nine. Are Heather, Kristin, and Samantha coming in tonight?” I ask, reading from the roster I created for them to initial. After a week of learning all their names and getting them to just sign a piece of paper, I figured this would be more organized at the end of the night when I took it to Georgy to get paid.
“I didn’t hear them say anything about taking the night off, but they get that approved with the boss. Randy doesn’t really tell us much, so I don’t know,” Tracy tells me.
I mean, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if Kristin didn’t show. She’s one of the only ladies here who is truly a stuck-up bitch to me for no reason. But I will miss Heather tonight if she doesn’t come. She and I have gotten pretty close as work friends since that very first day when she was my first client here. I shrug. “Oh well. I’ll see them when I see them, I guess.”
It’s Friday, so the roster is packed, even fuller than my first day last Saturday. I was a little nervous about tonight, after having a light week of only about ten girls each night of the workweek, which only took me two hours. Tonight, it’s more than double that, and even more if Heather, Kristin, and Samantha come, so I made sure to text Neil I’ll be closer to 11:00 p.m. tonight so he won’t worry. I’ve been driving myself since that first time, and while I miss not having those few hours with him every night, I know this is only temporary. They’ll find a second makeup artist soon and I’ll split the hours with her. I’ll miss the extra cash, but at least I’ll get to see Neil three extra nights a week. We’ve been supplementing our lost time at night together during his lunch hour. He’s made sure not to take any extra appointments to fill the hour, and we don’t waste it on working out either. He works out when I’m at work, and the same goes for me when he’s working, and then we get to actually eat during his lunch.
“Speaking of barre, blondie, if Heather doesn’t show up, we’re going to be missing one of our dancers. What do you think? You got the balls to fill in?” Crystal asks, taking her seat in the salon chair for me to start on her eyeshadow, and I burst out laughing.
“Me? Strip? There is no way in hell. Neil would tear down this entire mansion,” I reply, shaking my head.
She flaps her hand at me. “Not strip, silly. Dance. Like actually dance. You don’t think we see those moves you practice before barre class? One of the rooms is just that, dancing. You keep your clothes on—well, whatever costume you want, not that,” she corrects, waving a finger at my graphic tee and jeans as I apply glue to her false eyelashes.
I consider her proposal. I used to do talent shows and recitals and all sorts of performances back in middle and high school. My style of choice was contemporary, so a lot of times, I didn’t even have a routine. I just freestyled and let the music move me.
She must see my interest, because she prods, “Come on. Who doesn’t want an extra grand in their pocket just from an hour of doing something you love to do?”
“An extra grand? Seriously? For the whole night, or…?”
She shakes her head. “No, blondie. Per hour. You must not realize the caliber of men who are members here. I mean, if Randy is willing to hire a professional makeup artist for the girls every single night, that should tell you something right there.”