“Yeah,” I responded, keeping eye contact.
She stared down at her menu, and I allowed the tense moment to blow away.
We both took some time to figure out what we wanted to eat, and by the time the server had returned, Hope wasn’t blushing or nervous anymore, and clearly ready to get back to our conversation.
“So... whatareyou looking for?”
I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face at the question. We were finally getting into the nitty-gritty of things.
“Someone honest,” I responded. “Someone kind. Someone who understands that my dominance is a responsibility I cherish.” I allowed myself a brief moment to look down at my hands and collect my thoughts. “I’m also definitely not looking for something casual. I’m at a point in my life when I’m looking to settle down. Playing the field was certainly fun a few years ago, but I’m way past that.”
“Isn’t that why we’re all here?” she asked me while she continued to fiddle with her napkin. “I mean, that’s the point of this whole event, right?”
“True,” I said with a wink.
She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling now.
“And what about you?” I asked gently.
Her breath caught, just slightly before she bit her lip.
Oh no. That didn’t look goodorpromising.
She stared down at the napkin in her hands, twisting one corner between her fingers until it wrinkled.
“I... might have accidentally signed up for one of the Little events this morning,” she said finally, very quietly.
I kept my expression neutral. “Accidentally,” I repeated.
“Yes.” Her cheeks flamed. “I thought I’d signed up for the submissives event, but I must have messed something up when I did my forms. When I found out about it, the Master in charge of sign-ins convinced me to give it a go...” she stopped, seemingly carefully considering her words.
“And? How did you like it?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t hate it. He stayed with me the entire time and helped me paint a picture.”
I nodded once, my chest filling with a fresh round of nerves. “That was kind of him.”
She glanced up, surprised by my response.
“You’re not mad?” she asked quickly. “It’s just that Iama submissive. And I know the two are very closely intertwined, and I didn’t expect to like it or him as much as I did.”
I had to be very careful with my response. I grabbed her hand across the table, and she immediately stopped biting that delicious-looking lower lip. “Why would I be mad? Like you said, being a submissive and a Little aren’t mutually exclusive. And if you can’t explore other aspects of your personality here, where will you be able to do it?”
I wasn’t feeding her a line or a load of bullshit either. The problem was, though... I didn’t know if I was the kind of Dominant who could be both Master and Daddy. I thoroughly enjoyed the caregiving aspect of aftercare, but that wasn’t quite the same, was it?
She continued to stare at me, so I continued, hoping to set her at ease while also trying to talk myself down. “You’re allowed to be curious,” I assured her. “This is the place to try new things and decide what fits.”
Her shoulders dropped a fraction.
“Yeah?” she finally asked.
“Yup,” I responded, sounding more confident than I felt. I liked this woman. And I wanted to encourage her to try new things and get to know herself better, but I would be lying if I said that didn’t make me worry that meant we would be less compatible by the end.
No point in wondering about that quite yet, right? It was only day one, after all.
Chapter Six
Hope
