“I didn’t lose her to him.”
“But she left you for him.”
“No, I willingly released her to him.” He paused briefly, as if gathering his thoughts. “I was her trainer, but that was all I was. Yes, she and I were attracted to each other and had good chemistry; otherwise, we never would have agreed to the terms of the arrangement, but we both knew we were never going to be a couple.”
Jenna had always assumed that a Dom and his or her submissive were, in fact, a couple. That they didn’t enter into a D/s relationship with each other unless they were either dating beforehand or planned on dating as part of the arrangement.
“I guess I don’t understand,” she said.
“It’s simple. She wanted into the lifestyle and needed a Dom. I was in the right place at the right time, between submissives, and I agreed to take her on. And, sure, we had fun together while it lasted. But she was never all I needed in a submissive, and I was never all she needed in a Dominant. So, as I trained her, I did so while keeping an eye out for a Dom who would make a better long-term fit for her.”
“Sounds impersonal.” Jenna wasn’t sure she could become Warren’s—or anyone’s—submissive if he didn’t want to be with her outside the playroom.
“It does,” he said, “but it wasn’t. Dominant/submissive relationships are very personal. They must be to work. Just because they don’t always extend beyond the club doesn’t mean they aren’t personal or don’t matter. You have to understand that while D/s relationships are like vanilla relationships in many ways, there are some aspects that will always be different. For example, even among couples who happen to be members of the club, when they’re in the club, they take on completely different roles with each other than they do in their normal, day to day lives.” He paused to take a contemplative breath. “The point is, I knew my last submissive was never going to be mine and only mine, and I was okay with that. We had a great relationship within the boundaries of the club, including all that being at the club entailed, but away from the lifestyle, we were just good friends. We still are.”
“So . . . you weren’t mad when she became that other Dom’s submissive?”
“Not at all. In fact, I was the one who introduced them.” He made a noise like he was a proud papa bear. “There’s a certain fulfillment in knowing I had a hand in helping a submissive find herself not just in the lifestyle, but also with the right Dominant. It gives me satisfaction to know I was part of her journey and helped her blossom into the beautiful, self-assured flower she was meant to become.”
For about a dozen reasons she couldn’t fully acknowledge, Jenna didn’t want to know how many submissives he had helped find themselves. It wasn’t that she was jealous. She just didn’t know where she stood and wasn’t comfortable thinking that if Warren were ever to become her Dom that he would only want to train her for someone else, then move on.
“It was all I ever wanted for her,” he continued. “It was clear from the start that I wasn’t her forever, just her trainer. It was my job to prepare her for her true Dom and to help her recognize when she’d found him.”
“Are they still together?” Jenna asked.
“Mm-hm. In fact, he collared her, and in a few months they’ll be married. Everyone got what they wanted.”
This was all so fascinating.
“Do all collared subs marry their Dominants?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Think of it like marriage. You can get married, then get divorced when things don’t work out. It’s the same premise. A Dom will collar a submissive, but sometimes things don’t work out, and he takes the collar back. Or the submissive gives it back to him.”
She’d had no idea there was still so much to learn about the lifestyle, but Warren was giving her quite the education.
“Have you ever collared a sub?” she asked.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not one of those Doms who thinks collaring and marriage are temporary institutions. To me, they’re permanent. They’re for the rest of my life. Which means when I find a submissive I want to collar, it will be because I want to marry her. In sickness and in health, till death do us part, inside the playroom and out of it, and all the rest. Divorce isn’t an option for me, in marriage or collaring.”
Every time Jenna and Warren spoke, she found his character to be a bit more pleasing, her trust flowing a little more easily. He never pushed her, never said anything that even hinted at impatience, and always showed her respect, even when he was describing how he would make her get down on all fours and crawl across the room while eating grapes from his hand or something. Or how he would parade her naked in front of his friends like a horse up for auction. Or make her bend over the table at a dinner party so he could fuck her while everyone ate dessert. Because how could it be disrespectful when listening to him say such things got her so hot?
“So,” she said, “are you one of those Doms who lives the lifestyle twenty-four seven?” She had raised the question that first night, but he had never answered it.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Being a Dom is a role I play, it’s not who I am. I can turn it on and turn it off.” She heard him snap his fingers in the background. “I’ve had satisfying vanilla relationships and satisfying D/s relationships.”
“You’ve had vanilla relationships?”
“Are you surprised?”
In all her research, she had never read about Doms who did the vanilla thing.
“I just thought—”
“That all Doms are always on? That
