“You let a dominatrix put out cigarettes on your chest?” she says, a sarcastic smile flashing across her lips.
“No, but I do belong to a bondage club in Los Angeles. I usually go there once a year, but I was thinking about going more than once, or earlier than usual. I needed to expend this energy in a certain way. I need to be with a submissive for a longer session. I'm pretty sure that would do the trick. Though I've never been involved in a murder investigation before so...”
“Right. There's a first time for everything. So are you telling me you have scheduled sex once a year?”
“I have scheduled sex once a year for a week straight, but yes.”
Her eyes flash wide before she turns her attention back to the spot behind Titus’s ear. “Hmmm. Casual kink is a preference of mine, but I've never set foot in a club. Are you the Dominant or the submissive?”
“A Dominant.”
Another hmmm. “I'm trying to paint this fuller picture of you in my head. Do you onlywantto have sex once a year?”
“No, but this is a small town.”
“Ah slim pickings.”
“Possibly.”
“You're not sure?”
“I've only had one relationship with someone local. After that I didn't exactly hold interviews for a replacement. So far my system has been working.”
“Until I came along.”
“You know it isn't like that.”
“I know. I— yeah. So I want to be held and you want to dominate your submissive.”
“That's not what I said,” I snap.
Claudia’s brows pull together as she frowns at me. “Sorry. I think I heard you wrong.”
“I didn't mean to be short. I apologize.” I consider taking back our deal and taking her back down the mountain. “I don’t have a submissive. Not one that belongs to me. I have an arrangement with a submissive that I enjoy spending time with, but she's not mine. The distinction is important.”
“Do you have anger management issues?” Claudia asks.
“I spend most of my time with a dog and before that I spent more than twenty years with an old man who averaged about four sentences a week that weren't related to wilderness survival tactics. I'm not great at talking to new people.”
“So you're just a quiet, cranky, brooding mountain man?”
“Something like that.”
“I’ll rephrase. You would like a session with a submissive?”
“Not just any submissive, but yes.”
“Don’t we have a deal? You have to tell me. The whole truth. Those are the rules.”
“I've thought about dominating you.”
She looks at Titus, keeps scratching his ear. She has a decent poker face when she needs one, but I know what she's thinking.
“So we're both in danger of dependency,” I say.
“But you said you only need it once a year.”
“With someone I have no real emotional attachment to.”
