Prologue
Sabine
“I’m so jealous. I can’t believe you’re graduating next month and I’ll still be trudging through law school for the rest of my life.”
I laugh. I love how dramatic Abby can be sometimes. “You have no reason to be jealous. At least when you graduate, you’ll immediately have your pick of amazing jobs. I have zero idea what I’m going to do with my master’s in English. It’s depressing. I’m one month from joining the real grownup world, and I have no plans. The thought freaks me out. I don’t even want to join the real world.”
“Why don’t you come out here, Sabine?” Abby’s voice lifted. “You’ve lived in Cambridge your entire life. Head west. I know your parents don’t mind if you don’t immediately get a job. Hell, your parents are so laid back, they probably don’t mind if you never get a job,” she teases.
She’s not wrong. I do have indulgent parents. Abby’s idea is not a bad one though. I’ve never been to Seattle, and I haven’t seen Abby in a year. “I might be able to make that happen.”
“Yes.” I can hear the excitement in her voice. “You can stay here with us as long as you’d like.”
I chuckle. “Uh… Are you sure about that?” I tease. “You’re living as a submissive to three men. That’s overwhelming. As open-minded as I am, I’m not sure I want to witness your peculiar dynamics up close and personal. I’ve met Julius, Levi, and Beck. They’re…intense.”
Abby originally went to Seattle for a summer internship. She was the most innocent college graduate I’ve ever known. I was stunned when she returned to Cambridge for her grandfather’s funeral two months later with two of those hunks in tow. I was even more stunned when I realized those three dominant, overbearing men had taken Abby under their wing in far more ways than were necessary for a summer internship in videography.
“Don’t be silly. Of course, you’ll stay here. I promise, my Doms won’t insist I roam around naked in front of a house guest.”
“Do they normally insist you wander around the house naked?” Abby never stops shocking me. Even though she’s been living with three overbearing Doms for two years, I’m still easily stunned by her lifestyle.
“Often, yes.” She giggles. “And don’t even pretend you aren’t curious about BDSM. You’ve been curious since the day we met six years ago. You can go to the club here, Surrender. Meet some people. Maybe even dabble in the lifestyle.”
I start tapping my foot against the floor. I’ve wanted to dip my toe into the fetish world for as long as I can remember. I’ve never done it, of course, mostly because I wouldn’t want my parents or the rest of the local aristocracy to find out. My parents are extremely permissive but even they have a line. There’s almost no way I could join a local BDSM club and keep it a secret. Someone would rat me out. Hell, my mother is a professor at Harvard. She would be mortified if something like that got out.
If I went to Seattle though…
“Say you’ll come. I’ll tell Julius, Beck, and Levi to hook you up with some Doms at Surrender. I promise you won’t regret it.”
“What if I want to be the Domme instead of the other way around?” I’m only half-kidding. In my fantasies, a firm, demanding man controls my every move. In reality, I can’t imagine actually being submissive. I’m a very strong, independent woman. I’ve worked hard to earn my degree with honors. I have an apartment and manage my life smoothly. I’m no pushover.
Granted, my parents still help me out financially, and I have a sizeable trust fund left to me by my paternal grandparents. In addition, I seriously have no plans for the future. Somehow, I’ve managed to put off making any decisions by continuing to go to school until I got my master’s.
I lived in the dorm for undergrad and then got an apartment for the last two years. The truth is, my parents have always indulged me. I’m an only child. They’ve never pressured me to do anything. They’ve never demanded anything of me at all. I got away with all sorts of shenanigans as a child. No matter how much trouble I got into, they rarely got upset.
I’m spoiled. I know it. I try not to act as privileged as I am, but there’s no denying I was born with a silver spoon.
When I decided junior year of high school to go to Harvard, the decision was easy. My mother, Professor Marlene Bridges, teaches there. My parents simply smiled and told me they thought it was an excellent idea.
My father, Edison Bridges, has a tendency to pat me on the head both literally and figuratively. “Whatever you want, honey.” I think they’ve always felt guilty for not spending more time with me or something. Because I have plenty of money, they have a cavalier attitude about my work ethic. If I want to work, fine. If not, that’s okay, too. It’s been my own internal perseverance that got me as far as I’ve come.
After all, my mother works and she doesn’t need to, either. My father indulges her the same way he does me. She’s a philosophy professor. My father, on the other hand, comes from generations of money. He’s a banker. When he met my mother, she was a grad student. To hear him tell it, he knew she was the one the moment he saw her in his bank. He courted her like a true gentleman, married her within months, and has spent the past twenty-five years telling everyone how amazing she is.
“Sabine? You still there?”
“Yep. Sorry. I was thinking.”
“Say you’ll come.” Abby giggles. “It’s funny, you know.”
“What is?”
“How the tables turned between us. When we met freshman year at Harvard, you were the more worldly one of the two of us. You encouraged me to experience things I’d never even imagined. Now, here we are six years later, and I’m the one living in an unconventional relationship encouraging you to open up and try out my world.”
I smile. She’s right. “Just because I thought you should get a vibrator and loosen up a bit didn’t mean I had any idea you would run off the moment we graduated and find three doting Doms to scratch your itch.”
More laughter. “You’ll come though, right?” She’s persistent.
I tap my lips. “You know what I really want to do?”
“What?” Her voice is eager.
“Write about it.”
“Write about what?”
“The fetish world. It fascinates me. I’m not interested in teaching or editing or even writing the next great women’s lit novel. I’d like to write something taboo. Maybe publish it under a secret pen name or something.”
“I love that idea.” Abby’s voice is elated. “I know people at Surrender will be receptive to introducing you to various aspects of the lifestyle, even if it is for research purposes. But…” Her voice dips.
“But what?” I smile again. I know she’s about to joke about this plan of mine.
“Don’t be surprised if you find you enjoy BDSM and meet the Dom of your dreams. It happened to me and I wasn’t even open to it yet. You, on the other hand, are more enlightened.”
I laugh. I’m hardly more enlightened than Abby. That’s a stretch. But the idea is growing on me. What can it hurt? I’ll have a fun summer. My parents will be glad I’ve come up with a plan. They’ve only encouraged me to “find myself.”