“These aren’t really kinks. Maybe they are. You’ve got to understand. When you like this stuff, it seems normal.”
“I’ve got nothing against any kind of alternative lifestyle—”
“What I’m saying is that it doesn’t seem alternative to us. I’ll be honest with you. It’s not a whole life thing for me. I like to be dominant in the bedroom.”
That was hardly a surprise. I’d known this guy my whole life. If there was ever a born Dominant, it was Jonah Steel.
“But I don’t take it into real life. I don’t even always do it in the bedroom. Most of the people at the club were like me. It was just a place where we could play out scenes with willing partners.”
“You had partners?”
“Duh, Bryce. You think you can dominate thin air?”
“No. I mean, you were with that one woman. Karen, was it?”
“Kerry. Kerry Ross. Yeah, she was my sub for a while, but she was never my slave outside the club, though she wanted to be.”
“Slave?”
“That’s a sub who’s submissive in all aspects of life, not just the bedroom. Not my thing. I never wanted a slave. I wanted an equal.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “I can’t believe I’m telling you this.”
“It’s all safe with me. You have to know that.”
“Right. It’s still weird. This part of me has always been very private.”
“If it helps, you don’t need to tell me about you at all. Just about Booker.”
“You need to know about the other stuff to understand. Booker was a male switch, the only one at the club.”
“And that’s unusual?”
“Switches are unusual, yeah. Usually you’re one or the other, dominant or submissive. But a switch is a different kind of personality.”
“Doesn’t seem that weird,” I said. “Okay, it’s all a little weird to me, but why wouldn’t you want to experience both sides of the coin?”
“He wasn’t just a switch. He was a bisexual switch. He played with both men and women, and he topped and bottomed for both.”
“Topped?”
“Top means taking the dominant role. Bottom is submissive.”
“Okay, not my cup of tea, or yours apparently. But surely being a bisexual switch isn’t altogether unusual.”
“I suppose it isn’t, but he was the only one at our club.”
“Anything else?”
“That’s it. I’m not a voyeur, so I never watched him in action.”
“You mean others…”
“Yeah, every club has a certain number of voyeurs and exhibitionists. Those who go to watch and be watched. I didn’t fall into either category. No one watched me. I had a private suite.”
Of course a Steel would have a private suite at an underground leather club. This was so much TMI.
“That’s a shame.”
“A shame I had a private suite?”