For a week, Nora went through the motions of life—sleeping, eating, working, and then starting over again the next day. She had her weekly appointment with Judge B., but they didn’t talk about Lance. She spent the night at Kingsley’s, and he mentioned he’d found a new head of security for his clubs. She visited Natasha at her apartment and found the pretty purpled-haired Dominatrix itching to get back to work. The client who had robbed and assaulted her would be charged with everything the DAs could throw at him. He wouldn’t see the light of day for years. Nora suggested Natasha come back to work for Kingsley for the sake of safety in numbers. Natasha admitted it wasn’t a bad idea and promised she would think about it.
The Wednesday of that week Nora drove back to Wakefield and attended daily Mass. She didn’t stay to talk to S?ren, she didn’t talk to anyone. She sat in the back, stayed kneeling during Communion, and only smiled at him once as she walked out the door of her old church and back again into her new life.
That night Nora found herself back at The 8th Circle bar.
“Okay, Kool-Aid. I got this. Try me.” Nora sipped at her drink and took a deep breath.
“Are you sure about this, Mistress?” Simone laid her hand on Nora’s thigh and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I mean really sure about it?”
“I’m so unbelievably sure right now that I’m stuck to the stool. Just ask me. I’ve got this.”
“If you insist. Here we go...How old are you, Mistress Nora?”
“I am thirty years old.”
“And...how much do you weigh?”
Nora took another deep breath. She opened her mouth and then closed it again.
“Maybe I don’t got this.”
“Mistress...” Simone laughed and laid her rainbow-hued head on Nora’s shoulder. “It’s okay. I don’t like telling people how much I weigh, either.”
“I don’t care how much you weigh. I just want to know what the hell kind of chemicals you’re using on your hair. Is that shit even legal? Are you giving yourself a brain tumor?”
“I don’t think so,” Simone sat up and rubbed her head. “I don’t feel any brain tumors. Although I have recently forgotten the last half of the alphabet and my own phone number. Is that a sign of a tumor?”
“Sounds more like J?ger than a tumor. I think you’ll live.”
“Thank God. I have a date tonight.”
“With whom? That big blond guy again?”
Simone shook her head.
“With the most beautiful Dominatrix in the entire Underground. I hope she’ll have me.”
Nora gave the girl the side-eye.
“Most beautiful Dominatrix in the Underground? Fuck that bitch, you’re spending the night with me.”
Simone laughed as Nora put her finger in Simone’s house collar and dragged her off the bar stool.
“Come on, Kool-Aid. Let’s go play a game of hide the dildo.”
“I love that game. No matter who wins, I always win,” Simone said.
Nora led her toward the elevator at the edge of the bar. They’d play a little in the pit tonight to get the girl warmed up before Nora dragged her back to the dungeon and did wonderful terrible things to her all night long.
The elevator rose and S?ren stepped out and into the bar.
“Excuse us, sir,” Nora said. “We’ll be needing that elevator.”
“Where are you going with Simone?” He stared down at Nora who only smiled up at him.
“Where am I going? Third base, for starters.”
“She and I did not get to finish our evening together. We were interrupted.” S?ren looked down at Nora coldly with a dark gleam in his eyes. She had to fight off a smile. So he’d forgiven her for their little fight on the porch then? Good. They couldn’t play-fight like this when they were actually mad at each other.
“Sorry. Not my fault.” Nora started to brush past him.
“Eleanor...”
“Mistress Nora, we did get interrupted,” Simone said rather sheepishly.
“Thank you, dear,” S?ren said and held out his hand to Simone. Simone looked imploringly at Nora.
“You know the rules, Blondie. Call Kingsley,” Nora said to S?ren. Simone leaned into Nora and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Make an appointment.”
They two women boarded the elevator and headed down.
“Thank you, Mistress. I’ve been dying to play with you for weeks. You’re so brave. He looked grumpy.”
“S?ren doesn’t scare me.”
“You’re my knight in shining armor, Mistress.” Simone gave a playfully melodramatic sigh and laid her head on Nora’s shoulder.
“I knew a knight once,” Nora said as the elevator hit the floor and they stepped out into the darkness. “I’ve got nothing on him.”
The End
Acknowledgments
This story was inspired by true events. Unfortunately kinky people losing custody of their children is not, in fact, a work of pure fiction.
Thank you to Angie of the Smut Book Club, Taylor Lunsford, and Karen Stivali for their editing expertise. Very special thanks to Elizabeth Belchik for all her naval fact-checking. Thank you to the U.S. Navy. God bless you all.