Kingdom Fall

She lifted her hand, and I nodded. “Would you ever marry a submissive?”

“I’ve never thought about that before. Currently, I doubt my wife would agree to polygamy.”

She bit her lip and held in a smile. Knowing her, she had a hundred and one snarky comments to make and couldn’t. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it because her smart mouth was one of the things I found so attractive about her.

I moved forward. “When I want to play, my submissive should be ready. When I arrive, she will be on her knees with her back to the door.” Her hand came up, but this time I didn’t give her what she wanted. “There should not be a defiant bone in her body. Her pose should be looking forward or down, but never up. She also won’t speak. If I wanted dinner or anything else, that would be specified before my arrival.”

That stubborn hand of hers hadn’t gone done. I finally nodded.

“So this is about you and not her?”

“Fair question. The answer to that is obviously no. As I stated before, there is a negotiation at the beginning. We have to understand each other’s wants and needs before we agree to enter this relationship. It’s not enough to be attracted to someone. Also, in truth, the submissive holds most of the power. It’s my job to listen and understand her wants even if she can’t fully express them. She controls the boundaries, and that’s why there is a safe word. Also, relationships evolve over time. Just like eating, what I hunger for today may not be what I want tomorrow. Same goes for her.”

I nodded when her hand went up again. “You don’t live with your submissive, so is a D/s relationship only about sex for you?”

“No. Most of the time, it involves sex, but it can be more. Especially if my sub wants to play house and cook and clean for me.”

“You just don’t sleep with her?”

I didn’t answer because she’d broken the rule. She stared at me, waiting, and even went as far as narrowing her eyes until I arched a brow.

“That gets into punishments. I’m not a sadist. I don’t get off on causing pain that exceeds pleasure. But when a rule is broken, one must be punished. For example, you’ve broken the rules three times.”

“What? Are you going to spank me now?” she asked, her chin up and obviously daring me to say yes.

“No. I think you’d enjoy it too much. Go stand in the corner.”

That obstinate chin didn’t drop. “You can’t be serious?”

I wasn’t one for a persistent rule-breaker submissive. Some defied because they craved the punishment. Others were masochists. And some dominants thrived with such submissives, but I wasn’t one of them. “You wanted to know what it was like being my submissive.”

“I did. I do. But I’m not going in the corner. Next thing you’ll want me to call you Daddy.”

Everyone had limits. I’d hit mine.

“Don’t mock what you don’t understand.” I headed for the door. “I’ll be back.”

“Wait,” she called, but I didn’t stop.

I was done.SixteenLizzyApologetic a hundred times over couldn’t completely describe how remorseful I was. I’d asked him to open up and I’d mocked him. At first, I’d assumed he was kidding. When I realized he was serious, it was too late.

It was true I had been bucking his rules and testing his limits. Being a brat to bring out the man I’d seen on the stage with the whip in his hand ready to use it. He’d looked dangerous, and I’d always craved a powerful man. The clash of our destructive sides called to me in a way I didn’t fully understand. There was more kink in me than I’d realized. Or was it just this man who brought this out of me? I needed to find out, and there was really only one way to do that.

Appearing weak or vulnerable went against everything I’d used to rebuild myself since high school. My past forced me to be strong, but to be with him, I had to be the opposite. I’d used his lie about who he really was to force myself free of his hold over me those many months ago. And here I was ready to cry because he’d left. What did that make me?

I dropped on the sofa like a stone, feeling the petulant expression of a child take hold of my face. I bit my lip to force myself not to poke it out. Then and there, I made a decision. I got up and prepared. When I was done, I waited.

Darkness fell hours before I heard footsteps and scrambled to get in position. When the door opened, I was on my knees, facing the corner he’d told me to go to before. I wore nothing more than a sexy pair of underwear and a matching bra that had been packed for me.