“Oh?” He smiled. “And what do you think of that?”
“I don’t know what to think. She says she has this thing with Julius…I can’t remember what she called it. Something to do with power tools.”
Karl-Heinz laughed, a rare enough event to make many of the people in the room turn and stare.
“Total power exchange. Well, well. I knew Julius wanted to make the change, but I didn’t realise he had done it already.”
“It sounds bizarre.”
“It’s what they want. Why should we care what they do?”
“Well, if they want to invite us round there…and Sarah said something about playing.”
Karl-Heinz took a deep breath.
“After last time, I’m not sure. You were so upset when you saw me with Sarah at the club.”
“I know, but that was because I didn’t expect it to happen. If you’d warned me beforehand, I think I’d have been okay.”
“Right, so perhaps you would be okay with this dinner party? Is that what you’re saying?”
“It’s just, well, it’d be interesting, maybe…”
Karl-Heinz laughed again. “You want to stand and stare at them?”
“Don’t be horrible. I’m just curious, that’s all.”
“Yes, so you want to stand and stare at them.”
“Karl-Heinz.” She spilled a splash of champagne on the floor with the force of her irritated gesture.
“I’m sorry. I’m teasing you. Look, let’s go there. If you feel uncomfortable at any time, you can stand aside. You don’t have to join in.”
“But you will?”
“Julius and I are good at reading each other. I always enjoy playing scenes with him and his submissives.”
Lydia raised an eyebrow.
“He has more than one?”
“Sometimes. Sometimes not. It sounds as if things have moved fast with him and Sarah. If they are in a total power exchange, perhaps they are mostly exclusive now.”
“Have you ever been in one of those?” asked Lydia.
“What, total power exchange? No. I’ve never had a long-term partner of that kind.”
“Really?”
“Really, Lydia.”
“Have all your relationships been based on dominance and submission?” She held her breath, wanting to know about Hans.
“No. My relationship with Petra was very traditional, very vanilla.”
“But that was the only one?”
“Yes.” He gave her a penetrating look. “You’re full of questions this evening.”