Rosie whimpered.
‘So … how many?’ she repeated urgently.
‘I will go for six,’ said Dimitri after some thought. ‘OK with you?’
‘Fine.’
Dimitri spent a few moments flexing his shoulders and neck, as if limbering up for an exercise routine. It was both amusing and rather intimidating.
He looked at Rosie’s upturned bottom with a squinty, scientific eye, gauging distances and velocities and suchlike.
‘Now then,’ he said, after all this was done. ‘Ready.’
He was like a matador of corporal punishment, all style and sass and flourish. It was fascinating to watch, from the point of view of somebody accustomed to Jasper’s quiet, firm, no-nonsense approach. Not that this was nonsense. But the element of performance was to the fore. He would definitely make a brilliant spanking-film actor.
He laid the strokes with excellent precision too. I almost envied Rosie, and she didn’t seem to be having a terrible time of it herself. After each stroke, and each corresponding gasp, there was a soft ‘ah’ of something like satisfaction.
They obviously knew each other well and were able to play on each other’s preferences.
Soon enough, six deeper red welts lay across the deep pink heart of Rosie’s rear cheeks. It looked so lovely that I wanted to admire it indefinitely, but all too soon Rosie was up on her feet with her skirt back in place. She hid herself in Dimitri’s arm, her face turned into his shoulder, while he and Jasper discussed the finer points of performing for the camera.
The shop talk went on for so long that I tired of it and went to pour Trix and myself another cocktail.
‘I could never do that,’ I said to her conversationally. ‘I think you and Rosie are incredibly brave.’
‘Ah, it’s nothing,’ said Trix. ‘Not when you’re an old hand like me. Rosie is brave though – it’s newer to her. And you’re an old friend of hers. That took some guts. She must have been afraid you would judge her.’
‘Why would I judge her? She knows about me and Jasper.’
‘But it’s still so new for you both.’ She sighed. ‘Those wonderful heady days of first getting to know your own sexuality with someone you love and trust. What a time of life to be living.’
‘You don’t have one person in particular?’ I asked, hoping I wasn’t overstepping her privacy.
‘I’m not made that way,’ she said. ‘I like a broader circle of lovers and playmates. We each bring something different to each other and that’s the way we like it.’
‘I don’t think I’m secure enough for that.’
‘Oh, I wasn’t, not to start with. It’s something you can learn, if you really want to. But you seem very happy with Jasper and he with you, so …’
‘I wish I knew it would last,’ I blurted, before the thought was fully formed.
‘Don’t you think it will?’
‘I want it to. I really want it to.’
‘I think he does too.’
She touched my hand, just at the moment Jasper and Dimitri broke off their conversation and looked around to bring us into the circle.
‘Are my ears burning?’ asked Jasper lightly.
‘Not as much as Rosie’s ass,’ said Dimitri with a great burst of laughter.
Poor Rosie smacked his chest and pretended to push him away, but he just pulled her in tighter and tipped up her chin for a ravenous kiss.
It made me smile, and I dismissed my insecurities for the rest of the evening.
Chapter Seven