It took most of yesterday to move Claudia’s things out of the room that adjoins mine.

My submissive’s bedroom.

Emma Lia’s bedroom.

Claudia dragged her feet and made everything about the move to the upstairs bedroom a huge pain in my ass. I finally had to chip in—me, Tristan Broussard—and help move her things so she could be out of the room in time for the interior designer to come.

I was so fucking close to telling her to forget the whole thing and go to a fucking hotel instead. I must have considered it at least a dozen times. But I couldn’t in the end; I’m a man of my word. I told her that she could stay while she finds a new Dom… so she will stay.

I wanted the designer to begin working on Emma Lia’s room yesterday afternoon, but I was forced to postpone her consultation until this morning. The whole thing turned into a rush job today with the entire staff present to get the work done. But now it’s done.

Emma Lia’s room has been emptied, cleaned from top to bottom, and filled with all-new furnishings and posh decor. And hidden cameras—a special little touch that I added at the last minute.

The chifforobe is filled with brand-new sex toys, including every kinky supply that we’ll need for the amazing erotic venture we’re about to take together.

And I can’t fucking wait.

Emma Lia. She’s the only thing that I’m able to think about during the drive from home to the casino. I’ve been away from her for a day and a half. I can’t believe how eager I am to see her again. I’ve never been this electrified about reuniting with any of my previous submissives when we’ve been apart even for an extended period of time. But then again, my previous submissives were never untrained and awaiting my guidance.

When I enter the bedroom where I’ve been keeping Emma Lia, I find her lying on the bed on her side, her hand tucked beneath the pillow. She’s so at ease that she doesn’t so much as flinch when I enter the room.

Good. The sedatives are already working.

I sit on the bed beside her, and she opens her heavy eyes. A drawn-out sigh is the only sound in the room.

“How are you?”

“Bored. Tired.”

I’m certain that she has been bored with only the television to keep her entertained. Her only human interaction for the last day and a half has been with Smith when he brought her meals.

“I’m sorry that you’ve been bored. I wanted to return sooner, but it wasn’t possible. I trust that you’ve been treated well in my absence.”

“It’s been… hunky-dory.”

“You’ve had dinner?”

Another drawn-out sigh. “Yesss.”

“Tell me what you ate.”

She closes her eyes and tucks both hands beneath her head. “Filet steak… potatoes… asparagus… and a very nice glass of… red wine.”

“Did you drink the whole glass of cabernet sauvignon?”

“Of course. It was… delicious.”

Perfect. “That’s my good girl.”

“The wine is making me warm. And very relaxed.” Her voice is soft. Barely even audible.

“Not the wine. The sedative cocktail—that’s what’s making you feel so calm.”

“What’s a sedative cocktail?”

“That’s not for you to worry about. Just enjoy your sleep. And when you wake, you’ll be in your own bed in your own bedroom.” In your new home. My home.

“Mmm… that sounds… wonderful. I want… to go… home.”

I rub my hand over her forehead, pushing away the hair that is covering her face. “No worries, sweetheart. I’m going to take care of everything, including you.”

* * *

Dr. Catherine Miller enters Emma Lia’s bedroom and stills when she sees her lying on the bed. “This is my patient?”

“Yes.”

Catherine looks at me. “Tristan… what have you done to this woman?”

“Don’t worry, Cat. She’s just a little sedated.”

Catherine has been on retainer with me for years. She’s the only OB-GYN that I trust to care for my submissives. The only doctor that I know who understands what it is that I do. Because she participates in the same alternative lifestyle. Because we once enjoyed this lifestyle together as Dom and sub.

“Why is she unconscious?”

It goes against my Dom nature to allow Cat to interrogate me.

“You know our policy. Don’t ask questions that you don’t want to hear the answers to.”

“Is she here against her will?”

“Do you really want to hear the answer to that question? Because I will tell you the truth. But if I do, you become involved at that point. Probably more deeply than you’d like to be.”

“I’m pretty sure that I’m already more deeply involved than I’d like to be by just being here.”

Cat and Emma Lia will come to know one another well. We will frequent the same dungeons. Attend the same play parties. They could become good friends—unlike she and Claudia.

Claudia was jealous of Cat. She only went along with being her patient because it was my demand.

“How did Claudia take your ending the relationship?”

“Just as you would expect her to take it.”

Cat chuckles. “That one is going to be trouble, Tristan.”

“She won’t; she’s too obedient to be a problem.”

“She’s no longer yours to order, and you shouldn’t forget that.”

Cats sits on the bed beside Emma Lia and lifts her arm, letting it drop on the bed like a rock before turning to look at me. “She has zero tone. Nothing but dead weight. I’m going to need your help moving and positioning her.”

“Just tell me what you need me to do.”

Cat opens her bag. “I assume that she needs STD testing? A complete panel?”

“Yes. Everything. I need one too since this is a new relationship.”

Easton is the only person that Claudia fucked while she was my submissive. I don’t think that he’d purposely put either of us at risk but Easton does what Easton wants. I have to know that I’m clean so that I don’t put Emma Lia at risk.

“You told me when you called that she needs an IUD placed as well?”

Abso-fucking-lutely. “Yes.”

“I’m assuming that you asked me to place it because she wants an IUD? Otherwise it would be completely unethical to place a birth control device in someone who hasn’t consented.”

My subs have always been conscious and consenting in the past. We’ve never had to address this bullshit about unethical practices. “I’m consenting on her behalf.”

“Tristan… you know that I can’t do that if she hasn’t given permission.”

I’m going to ease Cat’s conscience and shoulder the burden of this one on my own. “Of course she wants the IUD. She’s my submissive and wants to make me happy. Neither of us want a pregnancy.”

Cat lifts a brow. “You’re such a fucking liar. But I’m going to place the IUD because I actually do believe the part about neither of you wanting a baby. And an IUD is easy enough to remove if that should change anytime in the near future.”

“It won’t change. At least not while she is my submissive. She can do whatever she likes once she moves on.”

Cat peeks beneath Emma Lia’s dress. “Those will have to come off before I can do her exam. Help me.”

We each tug on the waistband of the thong and drag it down her legs. When it’s free, I fist the silk and stuff it into my pocket.

“I saw that, you kinky motherfucker.”

“Just a little something to hold me over until I can have the real thing.”

Cat grabs her ankles and pulls but Emma Lia’s body barely budges. No surprise there. Cat is a very small woman. “Help me pull her down in the bed until her buttocks are nearly hanging off the edge.”

Buttocks. Doctor lingo.

I grasp her ankles and do as Cat instructs. A first. “What now?”

“Cup your hands around the bottom of her feet and push her legs back so her knees fall far apart.”

Most people would feel some kind of discomfort or remorse or guilt for doing this—looking at her pussy while she’s unconscious—but the only thing that I feel is the rush of blood to my dick.

I’ve looked at a lot of pussy in my time, but I swear that I’ve never seen a prettier one than hers.

Cat inserts a metal speculum, twists a knob to crank open her vagina, and collects the samples that she’ll need for that part of the STD testing. I look away while she inserts the IUD. Not a turn-on.

“Look down here over my shoulder. I want to show you something.”

I stoop lower and Cat repositions the speculum. “See the string there?”

“Yes.”

“You’ve probably never felt this on any of your other subs but you will on her because her string is hanging out a little more than most women’s. That’s not a problem. It’s just that way because of her anatomy but I’m showing you so you won’t freak the fuck out and blame me for putting in a faulty IUD when you feel the string.”

“Are you sure that it’ll keep her from getting pregnant?”

“It’ll work… as long as you don’t pull the string.”

“There’s no fucking way that I’m pulling on that string.”

“I was never worried that you would, Tristan. I just wanted you to be aware.”

Cat and I move Emma Lia up in the bed and Cat completes her full exam.

“She’s healthy?”

“She unconscious, Tristan. It’s impossible to do an appropriate exam in this state, but she looks healthy as far as I can tell.”

“Thank you for coming.”

Cat gathers her supplies and returns them to her bag. “I’ll call once I have the results. Until then, don’t fuck her without a condom.”

There’s no way that I’d ruin our first time with a fucking condom.

I can wait.