Page 109 of Not Safe For Work

“You okay?” I asked.

Rick nodded. “Just…a lot.”

I rubbed a hand up and down his side. “That’s the idea. Not in pain or anything?”

“No. I’m good.”

I untied his feet, then his hands. Making sure to keep a firm grip on his arm, I helped him up off the table, but then encouraged him to sit on its edge.

“We’re done.” I handed him his water and kissed his cheek. “Relax for a minute, and then we’ll go upstairs.”

“Thank you,” he whispered. For the scene? For the reprieve? Didn’t matter. His gratitude made my heart flutter as much as his submission did.

We stayed like that for a while, drinking some water and catching our breath until he was steady on his feet. Then I guided him up the stairs, leaving our clothes in the dungeon. Eventually, I’d go back down, clean up the room, retrieve our clothes. For now, my focus was on him and helping him onto the bed.

“How do you feel?” I asked as I settled in beside him.

“Good.” He rested his head on my shoulder. “I’m sorry about earlier. With the machine. It—”

“No, don’t be.” I kissed the top of his head and held him closer. “The whole point is to overwhelm your senses, and there’s a very fine line between too much and too much. I fully expect you to tell me if we’re on the wrong side of that line. It’s bound to happen, especially now while we’re still finding each other’s limits. Getting to know each other.”

“It’s weird to think about, isn’t it?”

“How do you mean?”

“That we’re still figuring all this out.” He lifted himself up onto his elbow. “I keep forgetting that we only started doing this recently.”

“Me too, now that you mention it.” I kissed him, drawing it out for a moment but not deepening it.

He looked in my eyes again. “It’s funny. Most Doms I’ve played with before, it’s a slow process. But with you…” He lost focus for a moment. “With you, it’s easy.”

“It’s easy with you too. There’s still a learning curve, and there’s bound to be bumps in the road, but…”

He nodded. He started to speak but yawned instead. “Sorry. Jesus.”

“Tired?”

“Exhausted.” He smiled sleepily. “In a good way, though.”

“I should hope so.” I kissed his forehead. “Go ahead and sleep for a while if you need to. I’m not going anywhere.”

He smiled, eyes sliding closed.

And in minutes, he was asleep again.

He was right. It was easy. Even as we worked out the limits, which sometimes meant hitting those limits and needing to back off, it was never awkward or unpleasant. This relationship’s learning curve was probably the easiest I’d ever been on.

Well, there was no telling where it was going, but I liked where it was right now.