How are you today? I’m a little worried about you. It was your first time, and I took you quite far.
Some tiredness, confusion, and even sadness are common after an experience like that.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need me.
I enjoyed our scene very much.
Lots of hugs,
Asbjörn
I smile at the caring words coming from the big, bad Viking. Then I send him a quick text saying that I’m a little overwhelmed and processing, but otherwise good, and that I enjoyed our night together very much too.
When my phone vibrates a minute later, I grab it with impatient excitement, thinking it’s Asbjörn. My face falls when I find a message from Gustav.
Come back home, honey. I miss you. I fucked up, and I’m really sorry. I promise it won’t happen again.
I gnash my teeth and shove the phone between the sofa cushions. His messages are as cliché as his affair. I don’t know why I hadn’t seen it before, but this man is as cliché as anything can be. I have no idea what compelled me to stay with him for almost ten years—since I met him in my first year at the university. Deep down, I always knew he was a player and we weren’t a good fit, but when we started dating, I was too blinded by the popular guy setting his eyes on me, and then I guess I fell into a routine.
Shit,I have to be careful. Now, I’m drawn to Asbjörn and his charming smile and good looks. He’s probably the same.
I read his message again, and the comparison fades. He seems genuine and honest. Unlike Gustav, his confidence is not just a cover-up for an immature ego. It’s grounded and calm, making me believe I can trust him. But I have to be careful, or I’ll just end up in the same place.
6
Elina
The atmosphere is electric and vibrant when I enter the club on Friday night. I look toward the couches at the back, expecting them to be empty—there’s none of that ceremonial atmosphere that seemed to surround Ulf. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see I’m right and scan the room to ascertain he’s nowhere to be found.
After doing a lot of thinking this week, I’ve realized that he’s probably the one I need to guard myself from the most. My reactions to him seemed visceral and uncontrollable, and he’s the one who has been haunting my waking thoughts as well as my dreams all week.
But I’m also more disappointed he’s not here than I care to admit—something that only proves the need to keep my distance. Not that I stood a chance anyway. He’s the best Dom here.The chieftain. He must have tons of women, all more experienced, orbiting around him, hoping and waiting. Which is just another reason not to get attached.
My gaze drifts to Asbjörn, who is rounding the bar and approaching me. The sight of his easy smile dampens my tense overthinking and puts a smile on my lips.
“Hi,” I say softly, just before he engulfs me in a big bear hug.
“I’m glad you came,” he says as he breaks off the hug and takes my upper arms in a firm grip. We’ve been texting a few times over the week, and he told me I should come to the club on Friday night. We’ve even discussed doing another scene.
“Me too.” I tuck my hair behind my ear, feeling unusually shy as I remember what he did to me last week—and think of what he might do tonight.
“Come join us at the bar.” He gestures to a stool beside Lea, who’s talking to a couple—a man with a masculine braid and a thick beard, who holds a woman in an openly possessive grip on the back of her neck.
“Hi,” I say a bit tentatively as I take a seat, but there’s no awkwardness. Lea leans in and gives me a tight hug, and the other two introduce themselves as Toke and Evelina—proudly maintaining the display of power exchange.
“New here?” Toke asks with a glimmer of amusement when I linger on his possessive grip and the collar around Evelina’s neck.
“Sorry, I’m just not used to such open dominance.”
Evelina smiles. “Don’t worry. In a month or two, it will feel more normal than seeing a couple holding hands.”
“You’ll feel right at home here,” Asbjörn says, now behind the bar. He strokes the back of a finger over my hand, and a flurry of anticipation rushes across my skin. I have a feeling he might be right.
We fall into easy conversation, all five of us. Toke and Evelina answer all my curious questions about their twenty-four-seven Dom/sub dynamic, and Lea gushes about her dreams of having such a relationship. The laughter flows freely, and the conversation runs smoothly while the rest of the club buzzes with a similar energy.
But suddenly, the atmosphere changes. The chatter around us dies down, and when Lea glances toward the entrance, sheabruptly cuts herself off mid-sentence. Silence falls over the room. Only the evocative music remains.
I turn my head to look the same way as Lea, and my whole system goes into a state of high alert when I see what caught her attention.
