“Okay.” He was certainly thorough.

“What’s better for you, morning or afternoon?”

“Uh, morning is fine.”

“Good. Then I will contact you for a chat tomorrow morning sometime. I apologize that I have to run, but I have some work I need to finish.”

“Oh, that’s fine.”

And that was it. He said goodbye, and then he was gone.

As spent as I was, my mind began to whir with curious thoughts about him. What sort of work would he have to do at close to midnight? Was that just an excuse to disconnect from me?

What more did I want anyway? I knew this wasn’t a “relationship.” It was just a sex thing, and for solo sex, that experience had been rather mind blowing, though I’m not sure how it would have compared to the same thing in real life…

The next morning I slept in, a guilty pleasure I allowed myself after nine months of waking up at five a.m. to make it to school on time. After a shower and some toast for breakfast, I settled into a comfortable chair in the living room with my laptop.

I powered it on and checked my email. I hadn’t been on ten minutes before the chat window at the bottom of the screen popped up.

MC: Are you there?

Sophie: Yes, sir.

MC: Ready for a session recap?

Sophie: Yes, sir.

MC: Good. First get your toy in that tender wet hole of yours.

Damn! He never tired of being demanding, did he? It was all fuck this, fuck that 24/7 with him.

Sophie: Just a minute.

I went to my bedroom closet, found a dildo, and came back to the computer. I fiddled around with it for a bit, then inserted it, leaned back to find a comfortable position and typed: Okay. Done.

MC: I want your reactions to our first play session.

Sophie: It was a little scary because it was new, and I don’t know you very well. But I think the fear may have added to the excitement. Also, I liked how you demanded that I do things to myself and how you pushed me to take things further.

MC: Be assured I will push you further and further. I will feed off your responses, and as I learn more about you, I will use your reactions to design sessions that are even more delicious. What was the highlight of the session for you?

Sophie: The highlights were absolutely the forks and when you let me come… Thank you, sir! I came at least twice and it was glorious! I liked the clit and nipple play the best.

MC: You were a good girl and orgasms are your reward. Orgasms will always need to be earned. The intensity and the depth of your orgasms will increase. I want to keep you a puddled mess. What else did you like?

Sophie: I liked how you talked to me for the most part. I really like the word “cumslut” and when you called me a little bitch it surprised me but it turned me on. I can’t believe it but I liked being called a whore. I guess I like dirty talk, so that was one of my favorite parts. I also liked, at the end, when you talked about sucking cock.

I didn’t write “your cock” but I was thinking it.

MC: Good. I will continue to verbally abuse you.

Sophie: It is freeing, just like you said. It’s also objectifying, which is a turn on.

MC: You are a quick study.

I felt my cheeks flush at his praise.

Sophie: Also, I thought you were a really good dom, giving me that right mixture of encouragement, discipline, strictness, contempt, and caring. Okay, maybe not so much caring, but kindness or decency.

MC: I’m pleased you enjoyed my style. It’s difficult finding the correct doses of pain, pleasure and control but we will get there as I learn more about your likes and dislikes. That’s why honesty and trust are such key factors. The sessions are a tad more difficult over the phone. A camera provides me with a lot more feedback, but I understand the perimeters and will work within the framework available.

Was he pushing me to do scenes on camera? I decided to take his words at face value rather than read a manipulation into them.

Sophie: I am looked forward to trying new things and finding out what the rest of those shopping items were for. I’m becoming a very greedy girl, and I want more.

MC: What were some of the lowlights or things about the session you didn’t like?

Sophie: Hmm. That I had trouble finding the right toy at the right moment. I was scared of taking too long and displeasing you, so that made me fumble around even more.

MC: You are on a learning curve and you will be better prepared once you know more about my demands and expectations. I thought the first live session went well, and they will only get better. Last night we enjoyed a positive session, and I’m looking forward to taking you even higher and further. I have to get back to work soon, but first I have an assignment for you.

Sophie: Yes, sir.

MC: Today will be fuck day. Every hour on the hour I want thirty strokes in that wet cunt. You will find the privacy and fuck yourself counting backward from thirty to zero. I want you to be a hungry li’l whore all day. Understood?

Eek. I was volunteering at the library today. How would I do that?

Sophie: Yes, sir, I understand.

MC: One more thing—I don’t want to see Dom spelled with a lower case d again.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“Usually the letter ‘a’ makes an aaaaah sound. As in apple,” I said.

“Like in bad?” Juanita asked.

“Exactly!”

The Mexican woman and I sat in one of the library conference rooms. We went through the rest of the alphabet and Juanita picked up the basics quickly.

As summer progressed, I made sure I got involved in more activities that got me out of the house. One of them was helping adults learn to read. It blew my mind that a person could get through school without that basic skill, but some did. And others, like Juanita, dropped out early to do menial work and never really mastered it.

But I could tell she was smart and would be zooming through a newspaper in no time. Teaching people to read was fun for me. It didn’t matter if it was a child or an adult—watching the light come on in their eyes when they “got it,” and seeing the look on their faces when the pieces of the puzzle came together in their minds—it was a privilege to be a part of that experience.

“Let’s try this reader.” I placed a simple phonics-based primer in her hand.

Juanita looked anxious. “I don’t know…”

“Just try,” I said, smiling encouragingly.

She did and I helped her, but only when she stumbled.

I enjoyed these Wednesday afternoons at the library. I had three adult students, and after I was finished with those appointments I browsed the stacks until I had an armful of books to check out. It was the day of the week I looked forward to the most, and the day MC knew not to give me tasks.

After Juanita left, I was headed toward the fiction section when I ran into my friend Jackie and her twins. Apparently, the identical blond poppets came to story time in the children’s section of the library each Wednesday afternoon. I tagged along while Jackie got her little darlings seated in the circle around the elderly librarian, who opened a book that featured a pile of puppies and talking farm animals. Then Jackie and I snuck to the back to catch up.

“How is it, being home with them? I’ll bet it’s great,” I said.

“It is, but they are so much work. I love them, but I swear working is easier than being home with twins.” Jackie sighed.

“But they are precious.”

She smiled. “They are, aren’t they?”

I nodded.

“Hey, how are you?”

“I’m good.”