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couch.
    “I—”
    “I’ve been giving Julia an introduction into our lifestyle,” Marcus said, saving her the pain of the admission.
    “I’m glad you are. Thank you for taking her under your wing,” Lana said. Then she looked at Julia and added, “You look as if you’re surviving it.”
    “I wish you had given me a little bit more of a warning about what to expect.”
    While Marcus congratulated Ben and shook his hand, Lana said, “I’m sorry about that. I did try, but, honestly, I didn’t know what to say. I figured you would try to save me or rescue me, or at least feel obligated to try to talk me out of it. At best, I figured you’d be worried. At worst, I was afraid you wouldn’t come at all.”
    “Am I really that judgemental?”
    “That’s not what I’m saying. It’s just hard for outsiders to comprehend the complexity of this lifestyle. If the situation had been reversed, I’m not sure I would have understood. Anyway, I’m glad you and Master Marcus have hit it off.”
    “I am a bit overwhelmed, honestly.”
    “I’m sure you are. I was, too, when I first met Ben. I had no idea he was into BDSM, and it took me a long time to accept it, and then embrace it.”
    “You obviously have.”
    “Ben has been understanding and wonderful. This completes me.” Lana nodded. “I’m happier than I ever knew possible. Ben is my partner in all ways. I found things in this relationship that I didn’t know had been missing.”
    “Like what?”
    “The sense of security that comes from talking about the most intimate of things. Ben doesn’t let me off the hook for anything.”
    “Does he punish you?” Julia asked, oddly fixated on that.
    “Yes. That doesn’t happen often, though. We talk about a lot of things, and we agree to the rules in our relationship beforehand. Everything is negotiated and discussed. If I choose to break the rules, that’s my choice. He doesn’t arbitrarily decide I’ve misbehaved and mete out a beating.” She shot a quick glance towards where the men were standing, as if making sure they were involved in their own conversation before whispering, “And sometimes I misbehave on purpose.”
    “Seriously?”
    “It’s called being a brat. Ben will sometimes indulge me, but occasionally I have to listen to a lecture about asking for what I want.” She rolled her eyes. “And those times, I get sent to bed without an orgasm.”
    “He’s a beast,” Julia teased.
    “It really is a worse punishment than getting a spanking and getting it over with.” She sighed. “There are many aspects to a physical relationship with a Dom. Some don’t include punishments. Some Doms and subs aren’t into that at all, they’re more into servitude. Some people are into masochism and sadism. Still others get off on just being tied up, like rope bondage. There’s a whole art to it, I’m told. Frankly I don’t have the patience for that. I don’t know. Some people like to just have occasional scenes, and, other than that, they have a regular relationship, you know, like Annie and Sam.”
    Annie was one of their friends who shared kinky stories at happy hour. Maybe at the next gathering, Julia would actually have stuff to share.
    “I don’t really talk much about this with friends in the vanilla world, but Ben and I have a twenty-four seven relationship. It is the relationship, not ancillary to it. We have some sort of physical interaction every day. I love getting spankings—I get off on them. Since I met Ben, I have dozens of orgasms. It feels as if I could write articles for magazines now.” She glanced over at her new husband. Even though his back was to them, Lana smiled.
    Julia had never had that experience with a man, even in the mad-rush early days of a relationship. If only for an evening, she’d like to be that happy. She’d spent her life working hard, setting goals and working feverishly towards them. Her entire life was a to-do list. She was restless and dissatisfied. Or