I wasn’t sure if he was hinting at something or not and I didn’t know how to ask.
“How did he die?”
“He went on a cave-diving trip to Florida with some of his old friends from college. Something went wrong and he and one of the friends didn’t make it.”
I covered my mouth with my hand. My tears rolled in earnest now. The pain of that must’ve been horrible. To lose your love like that and to have them die as far as you could get on the same continent.
“It took about a week for anyone to be able to recover their bodies, but once they did, Elio was buried somewhere near Florence where his family had immigrated from when he was a baby.”
Nodding, I tried to calm down my racing mind. Even if there’d been something going on behind closed doors—if thatwaswhat Master Allen was suggesting—that didn’t mean I could never measure up for someone like Elio. I was new to the scene. I hadn’t thought I was as green as the events of the last few days had proved, but it was obvious now. I was new, I was naïve, and I was definitely not good enough for someone like Luke.Especiallyafter being married to his perfect submissive already. Who would want to downgrade to me?
“Bear, there are a couple of things I want to say to you, as advice from someone who is many years older and much more experienced in kink.”
I made myself look at him as I grabbed a tissue from the box on the nearby end table and started to mop myself down a little.
“For one, you just got away from a bad situation and whatever it is you’re feeling right now may be gratitude. It’s been days, so you should try to safeguard your heart as much as you can, because you’re very vulnerable right now.”
I nodded. He wasn’t wrong. Logically I knew that in a situation like this, emotional transference could happen. I could redirect my hopes and dreams of the D/s relationship I wanted from Master Carl to Luke, because he seemed to be the perfect Dominant.
“Secondly, you’re new, Bear. You might think you know what you want and need, and I’m not saying you’re right or wrong with that but keep your eyes open. Ask questions. Learn about kinks you hadn’t heard about before you came here.” He spread his arms, holding his palms toward me. “And if anything at all feels intriguing whether you want to learn more or hear people’s experiences or actually try something out, you ask Luukas, and he’ll make it happen.”
My brain showed me a flash of the way Shauna had tugged on Luke’s belt loop.
“One more thing.” He smiled at me in that fatherly way. “Remember that people change, especially over longer periods of time. What someone thinks might be their thing can change. Needs change. Situations change as well. Sometimes we learn more about ourselves when we’re introduced to new people. Who knows what can happen.”
There was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” Master Allen said in a booming voice that almost made me jump a little.
Alyssa peered in. “Uh, Mistress told me to come get you guys before everything good has been eaten.”
Master Allen chuckled and got to his feet. “I think we’re done here anyway, right, Bear?”
I guess I had questions, and I didn’t really get what he meant with his “one more thing,” but I nodded, because there was no way I would disrespect anyone in this house in any way.
“Of course, Master,” I waited for him to pass me and then stood to follow.
He glanced at me and grinned. “You have manners, boy. That’s a good start.”
I blushed with pleasure and kept my head down, following him back to the kitchen area.
The subs at their designated table ended up being really nice, not that I expected anything else. They were all so kind about what had happened with Master Carl and vowed that they’d already spread the word about him and would continue to do so.
“We heard about the contract thing, and we all agree it’s not right to try to enforce something like that with a new submissive and with a 24/7 kind of new relationship,” a young man—Tim, maybe—reiterated.
The oldest of the subs around the table was a man who could’ve been Master Allen’s age. He’d mostly been listening, and his name was Paul.
He nodded, the motion enough to make everyone else turn to him.
“I agree. That man will not be able to find a play partner from this town.”
The others glanced at one another and something about them sort of unclenched. As if they’d been holding onto hope that what they were saying and doing would be enough to make sure Carl was taken care of, but now that Paul had said his piece, they were certain it would happen.
“Thank you,” I whispered, suddenly overwhelmed again.
They had mostly finished eating the tasty buffet style lunch while I was talking to Master Allen, but they were all sitting there to hang out with me for a while.
Those who had their Doms had one by one checked up with them and returned back to the table. I tried to eat while answering all the questions, and ended up having a lot of fun.
