The Primal's Kitten

Chapter Sixteen

6 Months Later

The last six months have been hard, but we just finished all the court dates for John and I was glad to have it all behind me. It had been a gruelling process of explaining myself over and over again, answering the same question back to back while another was fired at me. I did my share of crying most days, and then some, but I had found a strength that I didn’t know I had and I made several new friends in the process. We made up our own support group, to talk about John and our experiences, and I was thankful to have the extra support. Lish and Gavin were great, but having my own little pack of women who had been through some of the exact things as I had, was something they could not provide me. In the end, John was placed on house arrest for six months and probation for two years, while also being barred from seeking entrance into any lifestyle events or groups. Lish had taken over both the discussion group and the munch in the wake of John being thrown out, and though they had initially lost a few members, most had come back with apologies for not believing once the trial was over. 

I stayed to myself, working, going to therapy once a week, and meeting with my support group, leaving the lifestyle behind while I healed. I was worried I might not get over what John had done to me, and during the gruelling trial, I stopped having any of the delicious dreams I had come to enjoy. No, for more than six months I had nothing but nightmares of my time with John, and stories my brain my up would have happened, had he not been stopped. I knew I wouldn’t see John out, and yet whenever I saw a man that looked even somewhat like him, my heart would race and panic would spike, making it hard to breathe until I was alone again. Lish never pushed trying to get me back to events, and while I still spoke to my friends regularly, I rarely saw any of them. Lish and Gavin had even-toned a lot of things down, though it seemed different with them, I knew I was entirely safe, and with Lish being dominant, the dynamic was different and didn’t feel so vulnerable to be around, though Gavin stopped telling me certain things because he didn’t want to accidentally trigger anything. 

I was content without the lifestyle I had come to love, though if I was being honest with myself, I was beginning to miss it even if I still had mixed feelings about it and myself. I started dipping my toe in by going to the munch since it had always been such a fun event and I did miss the time with my friends who were all more than excited to see me back. I still couldn’t stand to go to the discussion group, and Lish never bugged me to try, since it was in the same building where I had been chosen for my innocence and lack of knowledge and experience. I just wasn’t ready to be back in that place. 

It was a Tuesday afternoon when Lish looked up from sending emails and tilted her head as she looked at me. “What is it?” She never looked at me like that without a reason and I knew her too well. She was planning something and was debating on whether or not she should ask me or just continue planning. “So, there’s a convention coming up in October, that one Gavin and I have been thinking of going to. It’s in Illinois, and I was thinking, if you wanted to go, Gav and I want to get your pass and pay for your room since it’s right before your Birthday.” She managed to get it all out in one breath, and if I wasn’t stunned,  I probably would have laughed at her, to be honest. She never seemed nervous, but thinking about, it made sense that she was a little nervous to bring it up since I had only just been getting back into the lifestyle and the community. “You don’t have to answer now, there are still two weeks to register, I just wanted to put the offer out there since Gav and I were talking about it again last night.” I nodded and went back to my own work, packing the orders that had come in, the ones I could fill from stock anyway and finally spoke. “I’d really like that.” Lish squealed and immediately logged into the convention site and started getting me registered with her and Gavin. I laughed and went back to work, shaking my head. 

“All signed up, you’ll get your badge when we get ours, and you should be getting an email with all the info so you can start looking at what classes and discussions you want to get in on.” I nodded, and we spent the rest of the afternoon working and chatting about the flow of the event, the types of classes and such that were held and what I might be interested in. “There’s a Bottoms Buffet on Friday evening you might want to check out.” “What is that?” I hadn’t heard the term before so I gave her a look over the tea she had brought me when we settled into the bay window seat. It was a gorgeous day, but hot, so the blasting air conditioning was welcome even as we sipped glorious hot chai tea. “It’s where people who are well versed in certain types of play give submissives a chance to experience it, to see if they like it or not. It’s all very safe, and not all those practising their craft are even dominants or tops, some of them are submissives too. Heck, some doms even try out new things they want to learn so they know how it feels before they try doing it on someone else.” I nodded, though it made me a little apprehensive to think of trying new things with someone I didn’t know. “It’s usually a very short session, just enough for you to get a feel for whatever it is, there are monitor’s walking around, and they use the stoplight system for safewords.” That made me feel better, I’d never been given a safeword with John, so knowing that I had the ability to call a halt to anything was refreshing, to say the least. 

“Oh, well that sounds like it could be fun. Are you and Gavin going?” “Yup! I’m going to be showing off my violet wand kit, though Gavin will be able to walk around with you if that helps.” I nodded and we settled into other conversations until Gavin came home with food. “I wanted to surprise you, with the trial ending I thought maybe tonight was a good night for Chinese and a movie.” I loved him, Gavin had come to know me almost as well as Lish did and the two of them took such good care of me, I don’t think I would ever be able to properly repay them for their kindness. “I could kiss you! You are wonderful, thank you. I’ll get the wine, you two set up!” This was exactly what I needed tonight, and the three of us enjoyed ourselves, sitting around the coffee table while a movie played, though we spent more time talking than watching and that was perfectly ok with me. Once the movie was over and the food cleared away, we continued to sit around and talk a little, sipping at glasses of wine that were a little too full for so early in the week, but we didn’t much care. The conversation had flowed easily back to the convention and Gavin seemed really excited to know that I was going with them. “You are going to have so much fun! Think of the munch, but an entire hotel full of people!” I must have looked nervous because Lish reached out and smacked Gavin on the back of the head. “Don’t scare the woman off, Gav, jeez! I promise it’s a lot of fun, there are so many cool people there and I am sure you will learn a ton!” I nodded and took a long drink of my wine, thinking. Was I ready for something like this? I hoped so since Lish had already paid for my entrance and added me to their hotel room, at least it would only be the three of us there so I would have a place to hide if I needed to. Lish leaned over and whispered something to Gavin and he nodded and got up, heading for their room. I raised a brow at her and she just grinned. “I have a surprise for you, it was Gavin’s idea though so he wants to be the one to offer it to you.” “Oh...okay then.”

Gavin came back down the stairs then, holding a small bag, a grin that spread over his whole face. I don’t think I had ever seen him this excited, so when he offered the bag I took it and dug the tissue paper out. What I found in the bag startled me and I looked at the pair of them for a long minute. “It’s for when you go to the convention. Most of the weirdo’s who show up get kicked out anyway, but we wanted you to feel extra safe.” Gavin was still grinning and Lish was too now as I took my present out of the bottom of the bag. It was a beautiful leather collar, simple in design, but the leather had been dyed a soft lavender that nearly matched my hair. That wasn’t all though, there was a small bell hanging from the leash ring, and a heart-shaped tag. “Under the protection of Mistress Alicia. Really?” I couldn’t hide my excitement as I looked up at her. Some might find it weird, but she was my best friend and had been at this much longer. It wasn’t like I was her submissive, it just gave me a layer of protection, since she was so well known at so many events. She had always been the social butterfly of the two of us. “Do you like it? I wanted you to have something to feel safer at the convention and you’re my best friend, and after what John did, I’m pretty sure I might punch someone next time.” I laughed at her, and harder when Gavin chimed in as well. “I would have punched him this time but there were too many people around.” “This is amazing, seriously. Thank you. You both have been so wonderful to me during all of this and now to offer your protection just, thank you.” I hugged them both tightly and wiped a few stray tears from my face before I took my collar and went off to my room for the night. I was protected by two of the most wonderful people, maybe now I could move on and finish healing from what John had done. Thankfully I had a few more months before the convention to continue to work with the support group and my therapist before I jumped in, and I was thankful for the time I had to prepare myself. I laid the collar on my dresser where I could see it whenever I was in my room and changed for bed. The nightmare might not be over, but for tonight, I felt protected and loved.