Seb and Iwere at the restaurant and waiting at 6:30. Jason grumbled, but managed to get us seated anyway. His place was fucking stunning. The front two thirds of it looked like your average restaurant with a split between booths and tables. The back section was set up with people from the lifestyle in mind. It was completely separated from the rest of the tables, camouflaged behind one way glass. The booths, while back-to-back, were walled off, floor to ceiling, and soundproofed. It allowed free speech, and frankly, a little more freedom for those who had more of a M/s dynamic.
Jason always had plenty of patrons back here. Giving a discount to club members helped with that, too. We stood quickly when the hostess walked Raven to the table. We each brushed a kiss on her cheek and motioned her to sit.
“Wow, this place is amazing!”
“Right? Jason, from the club, owns it, so we figured maybe the privacy would be nice. We need to be able to speak freely,” I said, taking a moment to appreciate her beauty.
“Yes, let’s not traumatize the kiddies,” she giggled.
The familiar blush rose on her cheeks and I smiled, placing my hand over hers.
“Raven, I’m so glad you decided to come out with us tonight. We really just want to have a conversation about the other night, in a more neutral setting.”
“And,” Seb added, “if that goes okay, we’d like to talk about what comes next. First, though, why don’t we order drinks and dinner?”
“Okay,” she said shyly.
We settled on a bottle of red, Raven and I opting for the chicken parm, Seb getting the veal. I poured our drinks and looked over at him, subtly nodding my head. He rolled his eyes, knowing I’d just nominated him to start what could be either a very good or very bad conversation.
“Raven,” he started, “how much do you remember about our conversation the other night about a Dom/sub relationship?”
“Honestly, it’s kind of a blur. My thoughts have been so jumbled up over everything, it’s like I can’t make heads or tails of it.”
“A lot of people really, truly don’t understand how these relationships work. The four pillars of a Dom/sub relationship are trust, communication, respect, and honesty. If even one of those is missing, it isn’t going to work. Unfortunately, a lot of people get hung up on what they see in books or media and those don’t always give an accurate portrayal.”
“Being a Dominant is not simply about punishment and ordering the sub around. The relationship actually centers around the needs, wants, curiosities, and desires of the sub. They decide where the boundaries are and the course the relationship will take,” I added, glad to see she was nodding and not running for the hills.
So far so good.
“So, if the Dom doesn’t just punish and order the sub around, then what do they do?”
We paused as the waitress placed our dinner on the table and then forged on.
“They listen and ask questions to understand what the sub is saying. When she can’t necessarily verbalize things, they help her to safely explore her innermost self. This could be mentally, emotionally, and sexually. A good Dom will gently press your boundaries, but never push you past them.”
“Seb is spot on with that. Life is a journey, not a race, and it’s no different with this. We want to empower you, not take your power. Having desires that aren’t run of the mill vanilla isn’t wrong. Having ‘kink’ tastes isn’t wrong. We want to nurture you, to help you learn about yourself and the things you never knew you wanted.”
“How do you know what I want if I’m not even sure?”
“Little bird, we’ve been doing this a long time. If you weren’t at least a little curious about the lifestyle, you never would have come to our room with us. You would have run so fast and so far, people’s heads would have spun,” Seb reasoned.
“I came close, remember?” she grinned.
“Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, sweetheart,” I said, matching her grin.
“Chase,” Seb groaned, “we’re trying to convince her that she wants to pursue something with us.”
Raven and I chuckled and she shook her head.
“It’s all good, Seb. I kind of like his goofball ways.”
“Don’t encourage him,” he groaned again.
“Raven, we’re asking you to trust us enough to consider exploring something new. It would be monogamous,” I said.
“For sex, you mean?”
“No, for all of it. It would be all three of us in the relationship. No one would play with anyone else.”
“Do you have any questions?” asked Seb.
“A few, yes. Would this just be in the bedroom? Because I don’t relish the idea of being told what to do all the time.”
“Mostly. There are times we may tell you to do something for us, but no, we aren’t interested in spending our lives ordering you around.”
“Something like?”
“Like going to work without panties,” I grinned.
“Seriously, Chase, that’s the best example you could come up with?”
“Nope, but I thought I should keep it tame.”
“Okay, and how do you know what boundaries to stay within when I’m not even sure what they are?”
“That’s something we will talk about if you decide you want to do this. Some things you’ll know right off the bat that you wouldn’t like. We’ll work it out as time goes on. We have some hard limits of our own,” I explained. “We don’t do play with knives, needles, or fire. We find there are countless other things we can do that don’t have the potential to mutilate someone.”
“It’s about making the decision together and consenting to play within those boundaries. That said, there is never a time where it won’t be okay to say no. So, what do you think, Raven?”
I know my face held the same hope that Seb’s did as we waited on her response. I was fairly certain I wasn’t the only one not currently breathing. Raven looked at us and I could practically see the wheels spinning in her head. Time seemed to stand still while we waited for the decision that would change our lives.