“Oh, wow.” Dena was looking at her all strange.

“Told ya.” Sasha just looked smug.

Julie didn’t understand what they were talking about. She was missing something. “What?”

“It’s basically what Daniel said Sunday.” Dena sank into the couch. “You just squashed the hopes and dreams of damn near every submissive in the western hemisphere.”

“And half the vanilla women, too,” Sasha added. “It’s clear Mr. Covington is no longer available.”

* * *

Daniel hung up the phone with a smile on his face. If he guessed correctly, Julie would think of little other than his words until she came over the next day. Hopefully by the time they finished dinner, she’d be so needy with want, any trepidation she had at being tied up would be overshadowed by desire.

He was surprised to hear she was spending the evening with Dena. Though if his relationship with Julie continued on its current path, it only stood to reason that the two women would spend time together. Dena had taken several young submissives under her wing over the years; she enjoyed mentoring as much as he did. Daniel was relieved Julie now had two people other than himself she could talk with.

He decided to walk down to the playroom so he could start planning for the next evening. But halfway down, his doorbell rang.

That was odd. He wasn’t expecting anyone. He checked his phone to make sure he hadn’t missed a call. Nothing.

He opened the door and smiled when he saw who waited.

“Cole Johnson, you bastard,” Daniel said, pulling the scruffy man into a hug. “How long has it been? Don’t you have a phone?”

Cole laughed and returned the hug. “Too damn long and yes, but by the time I figured out where I was going, I was already here.”

Daniel led him inside with a shake of his head. Some people never changed. He had met Cole when they were both in graduate school, though Cole left before getting his master’s, opting to return to his homeland, England, to finish school there. He currently lived Stateside and was a well-known award-winning journalist. They typically spoke every few months, but it’d been at least a year since they’d spent any time together.

They settled into the living room after Cole passed on a drink and Daniel got his first good look at his old friend. It appeared as though Cole hadn’t shaved in days and fatigue laced his features.

“What brings you to my doorstep?” Daniel asked. “And you look like hell, by the way.”

Cole scrubbed his fingers through his dark hair, making it look even worse. “I haven’t slept in over thirty-two hours. I was hoping I could crash here.”

“Sure, for as long as you need.”

“It won’t be long. I’m on my way to India for a few months. I leave in a few weeks.”

Which meant there would be no playroom with Julie the next night. He’d have to call and tell her about the change in plans. He wondered if she’d even want to stay. Even though he hadn’t seen Cole in over twelve months, he wished his friend had picked a different weekend to stop by.

Daniel stood. “Why don’t you take a shower and crash? You can sleep here for now and move into the guesthouse over the weekend.”

“Thanks, much appreciated.”

After Cole made his way upstairs, Daniel went to his bedroom and sent Julie a text asking for her to call him when she got home. His phone rang less than an hour later.

“Miss me that bad?” she teased when he answered. “Or were you afraid of what I learned from Dena and Sasha?”

He laughed. “Both, if I think about it long enough. But I was actually calling to let you know about a wrinkle in our plans.”

Her breath hitched and her even tone belied the desire he knew she felt. “Wrinkle? For tomorrow night?”

“Unfortunately, yes. An old college friend of mine stopped by unexpectedly and needs a place to stay. I’ll move him into the guesthouse, but the cleaning crew won’t have it ready until Saturday. I knew it’d probably be uncomfortable for you to play knowing he was in the main house.”

“Thank you, yes, I’m not bold enough to go there yet.” Her voice had lost its teasing touch.

“I’d like for you to meet him, so the dinner invitation stands. And you can still stay over if you’d like. We’d have the whole day to spend together.” He added the last statement to try and bring back her teasing side. “You know, if you’re not otherwise tied up.”

She laughed. The low seductive tone never failed to make him hard.

“There’s only one person going to tie me up,” she said.

He felt unexpectedly pleased at her reference and an overwhelming feeling of something that felt almost like possessiveness burned through his body. “You got that right.”

She sighed. “I guess a little bit more anticipation won’t hurt me.”

Probably not, he thought, but his erection wasn’t especially the most pleasant feeling in the world. Might as well do something about it.

“Talking about tomorrow night has me hard,” he said. “Let’s build that anticipation a bit more.”

From the other end of the phone came a low moan and he smiled. “I believe the correct response would be, ‘Yes, sir. If it pleases you.’”

Her reply was a whisper. “Yes, sir. If it pleases you.”

“Good girl, kitten. Now put the phone on speaker and undress for me.”

While she followed his order, he took time to slip out of his own clothes and put his phone on speaker.

“Okay, I’m finished,” she said.

“Okay, I’m finished, sir.”

“Okay, I’m finished, sir.”

“Thank you. Now for neglecting to call me sir, you get a punishment,” he said. “I’m not there to spank you, so instead take a picture of yourself naked and text it to me.”

Silence from the other side of the phone.

“Julie?”

“Yes, sir?”

“You have words if this is too much.” He felt the need to remind her; asking her to take a naked picture and send it to him might be more than she could handle at this point.

“Yellow.”

“Thank you for being honest, kitten. What’s wrong?”

“I know you’re not going to post pictures of me on the Internet. I know that. It’s just, once it’s out there, it’s out there.”

“I promise you as soon as this call is over, I’ll delete it. I won’t download it anywhere or show it to anyone. If you still don’t want to do it, say ‘red.’ We’ll say our good-byes and good-nights and have a wonderful day tomorrow. Otherwise, send the picture and we’ll continue. It’s up to you, so take your time deciding.”

He waited patiently while she thought. He knew he had to give her the time and space to make her own decision. Needed her to realize she was the one who decided the next step.

He’d prepared himself for her to say “red” when a soft chime alerted him to an incoming text. I trust you, it said, followed by a picture of her naked from the chest down. He felt the enormity of the gift she’d just given him.

“I’m honored and pleased by your trust, Julie,” he said, swallowing around the lump in his throat. “It isn’t something I take lightly.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Now I want you on your back in bed with your knees spread.” He pictured her situating herself. “One hand on your breast, the other checking to see how wet you are.”

“Wet, sir.”

“Good girl, now palm your breast, gently pinching a nipple, but gradually and gradually get harder.”

One day in the future he’d put nipple clamps on her. He had a feeling she’d like them. It was so easy to imagine her in his playroom, decorated for his pleasure.

From the other side of the phone came a short gasp.

“Did you pinch hard, kitten?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Now, see if you’re wetter.”

“I know I am, sir.”

“Such a naughty kitten, getting off on pinching her nipples.”

“What about you, sir?” she asked in that sultry voice that drove him wild. “Are you hard?”

He loved her playful side. “I’m so hard it hurts,” he said, stroking himself. “If you were here, I’d have you suck my dick to take the edge off. Then just before I came in your mouth, I’d pull out so I could finish in that tight pussy.”

She groaned again. “I wish I were with you, sir.”

“You will be tomorrow night.”

“But your friend will be there.”

“We’ll have time together, don’t doubt it.”

“I’m horribly impatient.”

“Don’t tempt me to withhold orgasm from you,” he warned. “I can teach you patience.”

She knew he could do it; it’d been on the checklist she’d filled out. It hadn’t been marked as a hard limit.

“I’m patience personified, sir.”

He chuckled and decided not to call her bluff. He’d already pushed her by having her send the picture. Now it was time for him to reward the trust she’d given him.

“Are you still in position?” he asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Good girl. Now take your finger and circle your clit, but don’t touch it.”

He listened carefully for her sharp intake of breath, smiling when it came.

“Ready to come, kitten?”

“Yes, please, sir.”

One day soon, he’d have to work on delaying her orgasm, stretching it out so she could take more of the pleasure he had to show her.

“I’m going to stroke my cock in a steady rhythm,” he said. “You follow along with me, however you wish.”

He took himself in his hand. “Ready?”

“Yes, sir.”

Stroking his cock, he started slow. “Now. Now. Now. Are you following me?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Let me hear you.”

She followed each of his “now’s” with a “yes” of her own and together they kept up his tempo.

“Now.”

“Yes.”

“Now.”

“Yes.”

He gradually went faster and she went with him, until he finally felt his climax rushing forward. “Whenever you want, kitten.”

She came in a rugged sigh and he followed, spilling in his hand.

“Mmmm,” she said.

“Did that help ease your anticipation?” he asked.

“No, sir. I think it only made me want you more. My fingers are a poor substitute for the real thing.”

Her honesty was enchanting and he found himself laughing. “Trust me, kitten, I feel the same. I’ll take you over my hand any day.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow. I guess that’s not so long.”

He thought briefly about telling her she couldn’t come again until he gave her permission, but decided against it. If everything went the way he planned, there would be plenty of time to claim ownership of her orgasms.

“Long enough, Julie. Long enough.”

They spoke for a few more minutes, revising their plans and saying good-nights. Not long after hanging up, he made his way down to the playroom to plan.

* * *

Daniel decided to work from home the next day, so he heard Cole trudge into the kitchen around noon.

“Feel better?” he called from his home office.

Cole gave a grunt that might have been an affirmative reply.

Daniel sent the e-mail he’d been working on and went into the kitchen. “Sleep well?”

His friend looked better after a shower, a shave, and a decent night’s sleep, but there was still an underlying fatigue in his eyes. “Like the dead.”

“Ready to talk about why you’re going halfway around the world for months?”

Cole took a deep breath. “Kate left me.”

The news was so unexpected, Daniel sat down. Kate had been Cole’s girlfriend and submissive for years. “No. Cole, I’m sorry. When she wasn’t with you last night, I just assumed she’d be following later. What happened?”

“There was only one thing we ever argued about on a regular basis.”

“The baby issue.” It had been an ongoing battle between the two for almost as long as Daniel could remember. Kate wanted children and Cole didn’t.

“It’s not an area you can compromise on,” Cole said. “You either have kids or you don’t. She eventually decided kids were more important than me.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t exactly like that.”

“Trust me, it was exactly like that.”

Daniel chose his next words carefully. Cole was hurting, but Daniel wouldn’t be much of a friend if he didn’t tell the truth. “You know that if you’re in pain over losing her, you can’t escape it by running.”

“Maybe not, but I can sure as hell avoid it for a while.”

“You know you’re always welcome here.”

“Thanks.” Cole smiled, but it looked forced. “How about you? Did you and Dena ever, you know?”

Cole had always thought Daniel should make more of a move with Dena. No matter how often Daniel insisted they were and would always be just friends and occasional play partners, Cole had the idea stuck in his head.