CHAPTER 4
1706 Words
SOPHIA
I woke up to soft sheets and an arm around my waist. For a moment, I didn't remember where I was. Then it all came flooding back. The club. Dominic. The most intense experience of my life.
I was still in the Obsidian Room, still naked except for my stockings. Dominic was behind me, fully clothed, holding me like I was something precious.
I had never spent the night with a Dom before. Usually, after a scene, there was some basic aftercare and then we both went our separate ways. But Dominic had been different. After I had finally stopped crying, he had wrapped me in a soft blanket, gotten me water, and just held me. He had asked me questions about how I was feeling, checked my wrists and ankles for any marks, massaged my shoulders where the flogger had landed.
Then he had told me we were staying the night.
I should have protested. Should have said I needed to get home. But I didn't want to leave. For the first time in years, I felt completely safe.
"You're awake," his deep voice said behind me.
"Yes, Sir." The honorific felt natural even outside of a scene.
"How are you feeling?"
I took stock of my body. My ass was sore but not painfully so. My wrists and ankles felt fine. My shoulders had a pleasant ache. But more than any physical sensation, I felt lighter. Like something heavy I had been carrying for years had finally been put down.
"Good," I said. "Really good, actually."
"No regrets?"
"None." I turned in his arms to face him. In the soft morning light filtering through the blackout curtains, he looked less intimidating and more human. But still devastatingly handsome. "Thank you, Sir."
"For what?"
"For last night. For being patient. For catching me when I fell."
He stroked my cheek. "That's what aftercare is for, Sia. A scene doesn't end when the physical acts end. It ends when you're fully back in your body and feeling safe."
"I've never had that before."
"I know. And that pisses me off." His jaw tightened. "Dominants who don't provide proper aftercare don't deserve to call themselves Doms."
There was such conviction in his voice that it made my chest warm.
"I want to see you again," he said.
My heart skipped. "You do?"
"Yes. Not just for a scene. I want to take you to dinner. Get to know you. See if this connection we have extends beyond these walls."
Panic fluttered in my chest. Dating meant revealing my real name. My real life. And if he found out who my father was...
"I don't know if that's a good idea, Sir."
"Why not?"
"Because this works because it's separate from my real life. If we cross that line..."
"You're afraid it will ruin what we have here," he finished.
"Yes."
He was quiet for a moment, his fingers tracing patterns on my bare shoulder. "I understand that fear. But Sia, what we did last night, that level of trust and connection, it doesn't come along often. At least not for me. And I've been doing this for twenty years."
Twenty years. God, he was experienced.
"I'm not asking you to introduce me to your family or post about me on social media," he continued. "I'm asking for one dinner. Just the two of us. We can use our scene names if you want. But I want to talk to you when you're not in subspace. I want to know what makes you laugh, what you're passionate about, what you dream about."
It was tempting. So tempting.
"Can I think about it?" I asked.
"Of course. Take all the time you need." He glanced at the clock on the nightstand. "It's eight in the morning. Do you need to be somewhere?"
"I should probably get home. I have lunch with my father every Sunday at one."
Something flickered across his face. "You're close with your father?"
"It's complicated. My mom and brother died a few years ago. It's just the two of us now. So I try to be there for him."
"I'm sorry for your loss."
"Thank you."
He sat up, and I immediately missed his warmth. "Let me help you get dressed."
It should have felt awkward, having him help me back into my corset and skirt. But it wasn't. His fingers were gentle as he laced up the corset, and he pressed a kiss to my shoulder when he was done.
"Before you go," he said, walking to the bar area and retrieving something from his bag. He came back with a phone. "I want you to take this."
"A phone?"
"Yes. It's a burner. My number is already programmed in. I want to be able to check on you over the next few days. Subdrop can hit anytime in the first seventy two hours after an intense scene."
"I've never experienced subdrop before."
"Because you've never been to subspace before. Trust me, you might feel fine now, but tomorrow or the next day, you might feel emotional or anxious or just off. I want you to be able to call me if that happens."
I stared at the phone. This was more care than any Dom had ever shown me.
"Take it, Sia. Please."
I took the phone. "Okay."
"Good girl." He kissed my forehead. "Now, I'm going to walk you out and make sure you get to your car safely."
He was a gentleman too. God, I was in so much trouble.
We walked through the now quiet club. Most members had gone home hours ago. Only staff remained, cleaning up from the night before. Dominic kept his hand on the small of my back, a possessive gesture that made me feel claimed in the best way.
When we reached my car, a sensible Audi SUV, he opened the driver's door for me.
"Drive safe," he said. "And Sia? Think about dinner. I'll call you tomorrow to check in."
"Yes, Sir."
He smiled at that and closed the door. I watched him in my rearview mirror as I drove away, and I couldn't shake the feeling that my life had just changed forever.
I made it home with just enough time to shower, change, and drive to my father's estate. The forty five minute drive gave me plenty of time to think about last night.
I had never felt anything like that before. The way Dominic had played my body like an instrument. The way he had pushed me right to my breaking point and then caught me. The way he had held me all night and made me feel cherished.
And now he wanted to take me to dinner.
Part of me was terrified. If we started dating, even casually, my two worlds would collide. What if he found out who I really was? What if he was only interested in me because of my father's money like Kyle had been?
But another part of me, the part that was still glowing from last night, wanted to take the risk. Wanted to see if this connection was real.
I pulled into my father's estate, a sprawling property in Medina with views of Lake Washington. The house was too big for one person, but Dad refused to downsize. Too many memories, he said.
George, my father's assistant and basically his only companion these days, answered the door.
"Miss Sophia. Your father is in his study."
"Thanks, George."
I walked through the familiar halls, past family photos that still included Mom and Marcus. Dad had never taken them down. Sometimes I wondered if that was healthy or if he was stuck in the past.
I knocked on the study door.
"Come in."
Dad was behind his desk, reading glasses perched on his nose, papers spread in front of him. At sixty, he was still handsome, though grief had added lines to his face that hadn't been there before the accident.
"Sophia. Right on time." He stood and came around the desk to hug me. "How was your week?"
"Good. The gallery is doing well. We sold three pieces this week."
"That's wonderful." He said it with the same tone someone might use to compliment a child's finger painting. He had never taken my gallery seriously.
"How was your week?" I asked.
"Busy. But I have good news. An old friend is moving back to Seattle. Dominic Sterling. You probably don't remember him, but he helped me get started in tech years ago. He's been in New York, but his divorce finalized and he's coming home."
My blood ran cold. Dominic. Sterling.
No. It couldn't be.
"When is he coming back?" I asked, my voice miraculously steady.
"He's already here. I'm throwing a welcome home party for him on Tuesday night. Black tie. I need you there."
The room was spinning. The man I had spent the night with, the man who had seen me at my most vulnerable, was my father's friend. And I was going to have to see him at a party in three days.
"Sophia? Are you alright? You look pale."
"I'm fine. Just... I think I might be coming down with something. Do you mind if we skip lunch today?"
Concern crossed his face. "Of course not. Go home and rest. Do you need me to send a doctor?"
"No, I'll be fine. I just need to lie down."
I practically ran out of the house, barely remembering to say goodbye to George. I sat in my car in the driveway, my hands shaking on the steering wheel.
Dominic Sterling was my father's friend. My father's friend had taken me to subspace. Had seen me naked and crying and completely undone.
The phone he gave me was burning a hole in my purse.
I needed to tell him we couldn't see each other again. That last night was a mistake. That whatever connection we had needed to end before it got even more complicated.
But even as I thought it, I knew I was lying to myself.
Because despite the panic, despite the impossibility of the situation, part of me was already counting down the hours until he called.
- Writer
