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“Damn, what you do to me.” He kissed her
again, a gentle kiss filled with tenderness. His arms wrapped around her as his
cock slipped free and Lauren found herself regretting their uncoupling. She
could stay joined with this man for a very long time.

Chapter Nine

Noon the next day found Lauren sitting at a
table in a chain restaurant with an old friend, needing to confide in someone.
Beth was her best friend, but would she understand? Beth had always been forthcoming
about her sexual proclivities, and they weren’t what Lauren had last night. So
she’d called up the other third of their triumvirate, Sarah Townshend. In high
school, she, Beth and Sarah had been alternately called the Three Stooges and
the three witches from Macbeth. All three had long brown hair then that they’d
play with and set into the same style, pretending they were triplets. They’d
been inseparable, until time and geography sent them in different directions.

But Lauren was back, and so was Sarah.
Funny how they all had returned to their roots after so many years. And now,
after last night, Lauren had to talk—and Sarah seemed the only one she could
trust to give her the straight answers she needed with no teasing. “I have
something to ask you…but it’s kinda on the rude side.” Lauren’s voice trailed
off.

Sarah shook her head as she speared a
forkful of lettuce from her salad. “We’ve been friends far too long for you to
worry about offending me.”

“Well, we haven’t seen each other in a long
time and I was afraid that—”

“Fear not. There’s nothing you can ask me
that I would consider rude.”

Lauren tried to explain anyway. “It’s just
that it’s been so long since we’ve really talked. We graduated and hung out
that whole summer. Then you married Tom and the two of you moved around so much
I never saw much of you. September eleven happened and I joined the Army as a
nurse and lived outside Washington while working for Walter Reed. Then I did a
stint overseas.”

“Being together over the years isn’t what
makes a friendship, Lauren. Friendship is being able to pick up again as if no
time has passed.”

Lauren smiled, remembering how much she
loved her best friends. “I’m so glad you met Phillip. After Tom died, the few
times we did meet up, you seemed so…broken. But now…” She toasted her friend
with her glass.

“But now?”

“You’re happy again. Phillip’s been really
good for you.” Lauren put her glass down, serious once more. “In fact, it’s him
I want to talk to you about.”

She saw her friend tense and Lauren
quailed. Sarah was the only one who might understand, who might be able to
explain what happened last night. She saw Sarah’s chin come up, almost defying
her to ask the question.

“Go ahead and ask. You’re the only one who
hasn’t.”

“What?” Lauren sat back, suddenly confused.

“About the trial and about our private sex
lives.”

Lauren shook her head. “No…that’s not it.
Well, it is, but— I want to talk to you
because
of your,” her voice
dropped to a whisper, “private sex life.”

Now it was Sarah’s turn to look puzzled.
“Maybe you’d better just ask your question.”

“You know I had a date with John?”

Sarah nodded and leaned forward to hear her
better.

“I need to know…that is, we…I mean, he… Oh
for crying out loud. Why is this so hard?”

Sarah smiled encouragingly. “I’ll tell you
why it’s hard after you tell me what it is.”

Lauren looked left and right to be sure no
one was near. The other diners were engaged in their own conversations and paid
them no attention. Satisfied, she leaned forward again and blurted it out.
“John tied me up last night and made love to me. And I enjoyed it!”

Sarah chuckled and Lauren hushed her. “I’m
serious. This is wrong on so many levels.”

“Whose levels? Society’s? The church’s? The
government’s? None of them belong in the bedroom with you and John. Not even
me, although I’m going to stay there for a little while, since you invited me
in.”

“Yes, I did. Beth sent me the clippings of
what happened between you and Phillip or I wouldn’t have had the courage to
even bring it up. But I thought if anyone could explain it to me…”

Sarah’s smile could’ve lit up the
restaurant. “If some good has come out of that terrible time, then it was worth
it. Let me tell you you’re not crazy, you’re not weird or terrible or any other
awful thing you’ve been calling yourself. What you are, is normal.”

“Really?” Lauren hated the vulnerability in
her voice but her responses to John’s lovemaking threw her completely. Sarah’s
reassurance went a long way toward righting her world once again. Especially
when Sarah pointed to the leather thong she wore tied around her neck.

“This is my collar. Phillip ties it on me
every morning as a sign of his dominance over me and I wear it as a symbol of
my obedience to him. He is my Master and I am his slave. Believe me. Being tied
down and made love to is so normal it’s almost mundane.”

“Mundane? Not a word I would use to
describe last night.”

Sarah grinned again. “Sounds like a good
beginning.”

Lauren pushed her unfinished salad away as
the waitress brought over their entrees. Suddenly she wondered why she had
ordered the grilled salmon when her thoughts had her stomach roiling.

“It’s a good beginning only if I can get
over this feeling of guilt,” she told Sarah after the waitress had left.

“It took me awhile too.” Sarah attacked her
fettuccini alfredo with gusto, explaining her feelings to Lauren as she swirled
the pasta onto her fork. “Society has conditioned you to think of some
activities as being kinky. And that kink is wrong. It isn’t.”

Lauren watched Sarah eat, remembering how
they used to tease her because she could eat anything and not gain a pound.
Apparently Sarah still could eat anything she wanted.

Not so for Lauren. The diet and exercise
required in order to stay fit and trim for active duty remained a part of her
daily regimen. She picked up her fork and played with the salmon as she
considered Sarah’s opinion.

“So you’re saying that kink is okay?”

“I’m saying that what goes on between a man
and a woman in the bedroom is no one’s business.” A sudden thought came to
Sarah. “Tell me again what John’s last name is?”

“McAllen. John McAllen.”

Sarah chuckled. “I just put it together. Of
course!”

Lauren frowned at her friend. “Put what
together? Sarah, this is serious.”

Sarah shook her head. “Of course it’s
serious.” She waggled her eyebrows. “More serious than you think.” She chuckled
again.

“Okay, spill it. What do you know that I
don’t?”

Sarah smiled. “Nope. I think this might be
one of those things you should learn from John.”

“Sarah…” Lauren flashed her a warning look.

Sarah put her fork down as well and took
Lauren’s hand. “Look, Lauren. A little rope in the bedroom is no big deal.
Obviously you felt something for him or you wouldn’t have been there in the
first place.”

“I did. I do. He…” She stopped and sat
back, her breath coming out in a huge sigh. “I had a flashback on our first
date. Dropped to the ground and everything.”

“What did John do?”

“Held me.” Lauren felt the tears burning in
her eyes and fought them. When she was sure of her voice again, she continued.
“He was understanding and loving…and patient, and kind. Everything I needed him
to be.” She squeezed Sarah’s hand. “And then he was commanding and assured and
then last night…he made love to me like…like I’ve never been made love to
before.”

“And you fell in love with him between one
breath and the next.”

Lauren nodded and a tear escaped to slide
silently down her cheek.

Sarah squeezed her hand in return. “Oh
honey. That’s a beautiful thing. You’re going to be just fine.”

“Of course she is. Did I miss dessert?”

Lauren wiped her eyes as Beth pulled out a
chair and sat beside them. She didn’t miss the look that passed between Sarah
and Beth, however. But ever the one to keep others’ secrets, Sarah didn’t say a
word of what Lauren had just told her. Instead she dropped Lauren’s hand and
turned brightly to the third member of their triad.

“Of course not. We’ve just finished.” Sarah
looked at Lauren’s barely touched salmon. “Well, one of us is, anyway.”

“I’m eating, I’m eating.” Lauren assumed a
false gaiety and put a forkful of fish into her mouth as proof.

“Yeah, I’m buying that.” Beth’s droll tone
implied the opposite. Lauren sighed. She couldn’t keep anything from either of
these two. They knew her that well. With her fork, she gestured from Sarah to
Beth. “Tell her,” she mumbled after a quick swallow. Putting her head down so
she wouldn’t have to see the look of shock on Beth’s face, she shoveled in
another mouthful so she wouldn’t have to answer any questions.

Sarah turned to Beth, a wry smile on her
face. “In short, John tied Lauren up last night and made love to her. And she
liked it.”

“Well, it’s about time!”

Lauren looked up, confused. “What’s about
time?” She managed around the mouthful of fish.

Beth gestured to herself and Sarah. “We’ve
known for quite a while you were submissive, just like Sarah. It was only a
matter of time before you figured it out.”

“I don’t get it. How did you know? I’m an
officer in the US Army for crying out loud. I give orders.” She paused.
“Correction. I gave orders. I’m not an officer anymore.”

“Yes you are.” Beth’s tone dismissed
Lauren’s self-pity. “You finished your last stint and simply didn’t re-up. But
you don’t lose your rank. Like it or not, ‘Major’ is still a part of who you
are.”

“You’re proving my point, Beth-a-rooni.”

Sarah laughed. “Now there’s the Lauren we
all know and love. You get her, Lauren-bauren!”

“Sorry, Sarah-silly, she’s whupped.” Beth’s
grin turned sly. “But then, you finally discovered you like a good whipping,
didn’t you?”

Lauren’s cheeks burned and she glanced at
the nearby tables. No one returned her glance or gave any indication that
Beth’s rhetorical question had been overheard. Still she made a motion to
silence her friend.

Beth only chuckled and signaled the
waitress. “I’d like the Decadent Chocolate Fudge Brownie. And three forks.”

Lauren rolled her eyes but Sarah nodded. “A
celebration. Definitely. Lauren’s coming into her own and that definitely calls
for chocolate. Lots of chocolate,” she added, an evil glint in her eyes.

“So,” Lauren fixed her gaze on Beth, “are
you also telling me you’re submissive? From what you told me of you and Paul, I
didn’t think—”

“Heavens, no!” Beth reeled back in mock
horror. Then she gave an equally evil grin and waggled her eyebrows as she
dropped the other shoe. “Paul’s the submissive in our marriage.”

Lauren sat back, as stunned as Beth
expected her to be after dropping that particular bombshell. It made sense when
she thought it through. Beth always took charge of the three of them whenever
they planned any activity. She and Sarah went along for the ride, adding their
own bits as they went. But Beth was the ringleader and always had been.

But Paul a submissive? That was harder to
understand. She knew Beth took the lead, but…a submissive? How could any man
keep his self-respect and submit to a woman? Didn’t that make him hen-pecked?

“Okay. For some reason I feel like I’m back
in first grade. Start at the beginning and take me through this one small step
at a time.”

But both women shook their heads in unison.
“Nope,” Beth said at the same time Sarah told her, “No way.” The two laughed
and Beth motioned to Sarah to go first.

“Everyone comes to understand their
sexuality on their own path and with their own teacher. Phillip taught me, John
will teach you.”

Beth nodded her agreement and dropped the
teasing tone from her voice. “I knew I loved Paul, but something just wasn’t
quite right between us. We both knew it and neither of us could figure it out.
Then Sarah and Phillip got married and I met Lady Aleshia at the wedding.” She
smiled and Lauren thought she’d never seen her so happy. Beth continued. “Paul
met Aleshia’s slave, Anton, and the two of them hit it off right away. We
learned from them to identify what was missing. Once we started on our journey
together, we tied the knot and, well, here we are!”

Briefly Lauren wondered how they managed to
make love with the baby around then decided that would be too much information
to process. Her two best friends in the world not only didn’t commiserate in
her agony, they welcomed and celebrated it. She pushed her lunch out of the way
entirely as the waitress delivered a monstrous piece of chocolate brownie with
vanilla ice cream and layered with hot fudge sauce on top. Three cherries sat
on top of a mound of whipped cream and Lauren laughed for the first time all
day.