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best friend. Felt like he owed it to his friend to help make sure his daughter was taken care of.”
    “And all the while you never knew you had a half sister, right?”
    “Oh, I knew. I just hadn’t seen her more than a handful of times as a toddler, and when her mother ran off with her, I didn’t know how to find her.” Stephanie’s arrival just months ago, after all those years, still made Lori smile. The woman was a godsend. Lori loved her to pieces.
    “Anyway, Jude was not just a regular at the club, he was the top dog. Jason was still trying to talk me out of the lifestyle when I started attending. He feared he’d influenced me in some way and felt responsible for my ‘demise’.” Lori smiled into Margaret’s hair again.
    “Yeah, he was beside himself when Stephanie showed up as a submissive. I can imagine him trying to talk you out of it.”
    “Also an understatement. So when Jude showed an interest in me, Jason was less than pleased. Jude initially insisted he was just looking out for me, showing me the ropes. I knew better. Jude did too. Jason kept a watchful eye, but I was a consenting adult and made my own choices.”
    “You moved in with him.”
    “I did. It happened fast. One day he was teaching me about bondage and the next minute he was topping me himself. We’d been skirting the issue for weeks. I know he tried to keep from falling for me, but it was inevitable, like a chain bound us to each other and we couldn’t escape the pull.”
    “I can see that. He’s…”
    “Yeah, he’s all that…and more.” Lori closed her eyes, trying to keep on track. “I lived with him for two years as his submissive. It seemed like the perfect arrangement. He was in the military. I assume he still is. He never spoke much about it. He worked normal hours most days, with the occasional times when he went away for training ops.”
    “And you?”
    “I…stayed in his home.”
    “You didn’t work?”
    “No. I had been working in marketing when we met. My job was demanding, however. I worked long hours for little pay at a small firm. Jude hated how unavailable I was, and then when I got home I was always exhausted and worried about the next day. He wanted more of me and convinced me he made enough money to take care of me.
    “He nagged me for weeks until I finally relented and quit my job to become his full-time submissive.”
    “Wow. I can’t picture that from you.”
    “I’m sure you can’t. I’ve changed. A lot.” Haven’t I?
    Margaret pulled herself free of Lori’s clutches and sat up. She tugged the blanket around her naked body and sat cross-legged, facing Lori. “Go on,” she encouraged. Nothing in her face said she was angry.
    “There isn’t much more to tell. I’m sure you can fill in the blanks.” Lori felt the flush rise on her cheeks. “I was happy. Ecstatic. I took over Jude’s home and ran it like a perfect tight ship. I did everything domestic out of a need to be busy, not because he asked it of me. And when he got home each night, I was available to him.
    “He ruled my nights. I ran his home by day.”
    “And then?”
    “And then he came home one day, or some possessed version of him did anyway. He was distraught, running his fingers through his hair, panicked. He said he was tired of the D/s life. It didn’t suit him anymore.”
    Margaret gasped, her jaw hanging open.
    “Yeah, I knew he was full of shit from the moment he walked in the door. He’d been fine the day before. Hell, even that morning. There had never been any indication he didn’t want me anymore.” Lori lifted her arms and speared her fingers into her hair. Memories of that day would haunt her for the rest of her life. Dragging them to the surface could be her undoing.
    “He darted around the house like a lunatic, not himself at all. I stood in one spot, naked the entire time, and watched him toss things around while he ranted about how he didn’t want me anymore and needed space.
    “I didn’t