“Congratulate me,” Mason said sliding into their regular booth at the bar.

“Congratulations,” Declan intoned, “What did you do?”

“Found the glitch in my game.”

Declan raised his glass to Mason, “That is definitely cause for celebration. Does this mean you’re not going to be such a bear with a sore head now?”

“I think you have me confused with someone else,” Mason replied, looking up as Hunter and Brooks joined them.

Declan snorted and then nodded to the two newcomers.

“What’s going on boys?” Hunter asked.

“Mason found the glitch in his game,” Declan supplied helpfully.

“Oh excellent,” Brooks said, “Now maybe you won’t be such a grumpy guts.”

“That’s what I said!” Declan exclaimed.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I am not grumpy, I’m stoic.”

“Bullshit,” Jonathon said as he sat down and placed fresh beer in front of everyone, “You’re the moodiest bloke I know. Kinda like a girl at that time of the month.”

“You’re an asshole, Ashby,” Mason said with a shake of his head.

“Yeah,” Jonathon replied, “But I’m you’re asshole.”

Mason grinned. “So, anyway, as I was saying. I found the glitch in my game and I’m pretty sure I’ve fixed it, which means it will hit production just in time for Christmas.”

“Nice,” Brooks said, raising his glass in salute.

“So when do we get to play it?” Declan asked.

This was always the hard bit for Mason. He didn’t mind perfect strangers playing his games, but he was always nervous whenever his friends played them. He could care less what other people thought, they were inconsequential to him, but he did care about what his friends thought.

Hunter clapped a hand on his shoulder, they all knew him too well and this was a scene that was played over each time he had a new game. His friends had played them all, from the very first. Mason was embarrassed by those early attempts, but his friends had encouraged him and he didn’t think he would’ve made it to where he was without their continued support.

“How about this Saturday,” Hunter said, breaking the silence. “We’ll bring the food—”

“You mean the girls will bring the food,” Declan said and Hunter smiled.

“The girls will bring the food, we’ll bring the drinks—”

Mason grimaced, “I’m not sure that this game is one that the girls would like,” he said and then looked at Brooks, “And it’s definitely not something Piper should be exposed to.”

“It’s violent?”

Mason shrugged, all his games were. “It’s a vigilante on a killing spree,” he replied and Brooks nodded.

“We’ll get a sitter for the day then,” he said, “And don’t worry about Harper, I sometimes think she’d enjoy a bit of indiscriminate killing.”

Hunter laughed, “I dare say Bailey is the same, especially if she’s imagining her sister.”

“Peyton’s causing trouble again?” Declan asked, a little too interested. Mason shot him a look with a raised eyebrow and he just shrugged. “I know she booked my resort for her wedding before Bailey had a chance to. I just figured it was more wedding drama.”

Hunter sighed, “Yeah, wedding drama. All the more reason for Bailey to blow off some steam.”

“You should invite Abby,” Brooks said, “Harper really hit it off with her.”

Mason shrugged again. He hadn’t seen Abby since the incident in the hall and quite frankly, he didn’t know what to say to her. The whole dismembered pig thing was a little creepy and it made him wonder just what else exactly she had been dragging passed his door on those other occasions.

“You didn’t think she was a little weird?” he asked, looking around at the assembled group.

“A little shy, maybe,” Hunter said, “But that doesn’t make a person weird.”

He didn’t want to say anything that might embarrass his neighbour. There may very well be a completely reasonable explanation for her disposing of a butchered pig carcass and he really should give her the chance to explain before thrusting her into the glare of his friends’ interrogation.

“I’ll ask her,” he said with a resigned sigh, “But I can’t promise she’ll come.”

He supposed that Abby was the reason he had been able to find the glitch in his game. He had been trying so hard to avoid her - any and all indications of her - that he had shut himself away with his headphones and applied singleminded focus on the game, working until he could no longer see straight. It was the only way he could fall into bed and sleep without thinking of her and how she felt crushed against him. The desire to have her hadn’t dimmed, but his body had been too tired to react to the thoughts of her that would inevitably snake their way into his mind at the most unlikely times. Not only had he exhausted his body in an attempt to drive the lust away, but he had starved himself of anything to do with her. He wore his noise-cancelling headphones all the time when he was in his apartment and he always checked the hallway through his peep-hole before venturing out so as to minimise any chance of an accidental sighting of her. It was all in the name of self-preservation because he didn’t think he was strong enough to deny the allure of her.

Now his friends wanted him to invite her into his apartment, and that was a very bad idea. Once she crossed the threshold, he would never be able to banish her from his thoughts. At the moment he had his headphones to stop himself from hearing her moving about next door, but seeing her in his apartment would be something he would never be able to un-see. She would forever haunt his every waking moment.

He swallowed his beer and tried to focus in on the conversation going on around him, but couldn’t pick up the thread. His thoughts returned to Abby, Sweet Abby, and he just didn’t understand what it was about her that had gotten under his skin, why she called to him like a siren. Those bitches were evil and lured sailors to their deaths and he couldn’t help thinking that getting involved with Abby would have similar consequences. No, he didn’t fear for his life, but he knew that he would not be able to walk away from her unchanged and that scared the shit out of him.

Mason left his friends and headed home. He had a date with NewGRL549, which he was looking forward to, but he was also a little reticent about. When he’d met NewGRL549, he hadn’t yet kissed Abby, he hadn’t felt her soft curves and tasted her sweetness. Now it felt like some sort of betrayal to be meeting another woman, even if it was online and even if he and Abby weren’t in a relationship. They weren’t even talking to one another at the moment, but still he felt a little weird.

But he was also a man of his word and he would hate for her to turn up in the chat room and wait for him and then for him to not show. She’d seemed like a sweet girl, an innocent for sure - if not virginal, than definitely innocent in the ways of BDSM, not that he was an expert - and he didn’t want her to get entangled with a less reputable Dom.

He, himself, had fallen into the lifestyle quite by accident. After some disastrous forays into sex with college girls, he’d decided his best course of action would be to seek out a professional - not a therapist - and he’d found Fetish. Madam Charlotte had interviewed him quite thoroughly before he’d been allowed to sample the merchandise and it was because of her that he’d discovered his need for his partner to be restrained. After that, he had explored what other needs he might have and Madam Charlotte had helped him learn the ways of being a good Dom. It wasn’t what most people thought, it wasn’t just a need to be dominant in the bedroom and it definitely wasn’t just taking and not giving. Madam Charlotte had shown him that the best Doms had their sub’s care as paramount. The role of a Dom was to take control, but that in taking control, you were also taking on the responsibility of the welfare of your sub.

Mason knew that there were a lot of Doms out there who thought it gave them carte blanche to abuse their subs, which completely eroded the relationship. If the sub couldn’t trust the Dom, then it could never be fulfilling for either of them. He did not want NewGRL549 to end up with someone like that and, in his mind, if he couldn’t have Abby, then NewGRL549 was a good alternative. It was hard enough to find a suitable sub, one that he was able to gel with, without trying to initiate a complete newby like Abby. He would need to explain his past, his aversion to touch and what it meant to be in a D/s relationship, all of which could make her run away screaming. No, someone like NewGRL549 who was already interested in the lifestyle was a much better choice for him, however his heart yearned for Sweet Abby.

He logged on to his computer and navigated to the chat room, signing in and taking his place at the virtual bar. It was the same old scene with the same old avatars and if it hadn’t been for the prearranged meeting with NewGRL549, then he probably wouldn’t have bothered. He saw her as soon as she appeared and got up to walk over to her. She’d seen him too and gave a cute, tentative wave which made him smile. She wore the same schoolgirl outfit as last time and waited patiently for him to approach her. That was good. He liked that she wanted him to make the first move, it was a good sign that she would make a good sub. He wasn’t the type that liked bratty subs, he didn’t get off on punishment and he didn’t want a sub who craved it. It was still early days yet between them, but her willingness to let him take control of their meeting was an encouraging sign.

NewGRL549: I was afraid you wouldn’t come.

DomMPF: I said I would and I always do what I say.

It was important for her to know that. She needed to understand that she could trust him, even with something small like this.

NewGRL549: I nearly didn’t come.

He expected that too.

DomMPF: I understand that. This is all new and can be a bit confronting at first, especially when you don’t yet know what your limits are. Have you ever dabbled in anything like this?

NewGRL549: Not in real life. I’ve read books and watched some videos, but it’s all still new and strange to me.

DomMPF: Did you want to stay here and talk or would you rather we go somewhere more private?

NewGRL549: I’m a little creeped out that so many people can hear, well see, our conversation. Would you mind if we went to a private room?

DomMPF: Not at all. I prefer it as well.

Mason smiled to himself as he opened the private chat room for them. He liked her candour, the last thing he wanted was a partner who was too afraid to speak up. He needed her honesty so that he knew how far he could take her and the last thing he wanted was for someone who was too timid to use their safe word.

He watched as her avatar walked around the room, checking out the various equipment.

NewGRL549: Do you use this stuff?

He walked over to stand beside her.

DomMPF: No.

She turned to him then.

NewGRL549: No? Then what do you like?

DomMPF: I like to be in control and I like my partner to be restrained, but that’s as far as it goes, really. I’m pretty vanilla when it comes to this lifestyle.

NewGRL549: Then why?

DomMPF: Because although I’m considered vanilla in this realm, I’m still not mainstream enough for regular women. Most women don’t like to be cuffed or tied up and some get offended if it is even suggested, which is fine, but makes it hard to find a partner outside of the lifestyle. Some people look on the D/s relationship as something abusive, that the Dom is trying to take away all the choices of the sub. But in a good D/s relationship, one that is fulfilling for both partners, it’s nothing like that.

Abby leaned back in her chair and stared at the screen. It was one of the things that she had been worried about, that this yearning inside of her to be submissive was somehow a fault. Society was all about girl power and being a strong woman, which she was in her day to day life, but there was something missing and that something was someone to take control, to take care of her. It was an almost physical pain she felt when she thought of just melting into someone and letting them carry the weight for a while. Sure, it warred with her independent-woman ideology, but she couldn’t deny the truth of it.

NewGRL549: So what does a healthy D/s relationship look like? But more to the point, what kind of D/s relationship are you looking for?

DomMPF: I don’t want a slave. I don’t want someone meek and timid, but I don’t want a brat either. I don’t like to punish, I don’t like inflicting pain. I will spank if necessary because it is important that a sub know her boundaries, but I take no pleasure in it. I like to be in control and to me that means having my partner restrained. It may sound strange to you, but I don’t like people touching me, which is why I use restraints.

NewGRL549: Isn’t it a bit hard to have a sexual relationship without touching?

DomMPF: It’s not that I don’t like touching, it’s that I don’t like to be touched. Physical contact needs to be initiated by me. It’s my quirk and what led me to the lifestyle in the first place.

Abby wondered what had happened in his past to give him this aversion. It wasn’t normal. Every human being on the planet craved touch, even the most introverted of people needed to be touched occasionally. She’d read studies on babies who were born premature and were separated from their parents while they grew strong enough to survive outside of a humidicrib. Those who were touched often had the best prognosis and thrived, whereas those who weren’t took longer.

DomMPF: I’ve scared you off, haven’t I?

NewGRL549: No. I was just thinking, wondering really. Your aversion to touch had to originate somewhere.

Dom MPF: Yes, it did, but I’m not prepared to talk about it.

This was a crossroads. She could end this relationship now or she could choose to trust him even if he wouldn’t tell her why he was the way he was. She had her own secrets, ones that she wasn’t ready to share with him and it would be a little hypocritical of her to expect him to lay himself bare before her if she wasn’t willing to do the same.

NewGRL549: Okay.

DomMPF: Okay?

NewGRL549: Yes, okay. We both have secrets otherwise we wouldn’t be here anonymously. If you can overlook mine, then I can overlook yours.

She waited for him to respond, wondering if she had somehow scared him off this time.

DomMPF: I’d like to meet you. IRL.

In Real Life. That was a big step and not one Abby thought she was ready for.

DomMPF: I know that we have only just met and really you don’t know me from Adam, but here is what I propose. There is a private club, a place we can go to meet that has certain security measures in place to ensure the safety of everyone involved. You will need to go and be interviewed by the club owner and fill out a questionnaire. You will also need to have a physical and blood tests. If you are approved, we can meet in one of their private rooms. They have staff who monitor the rooms to make sure the occupants are safe and in no danger.

Abby reread the chat, wondering if she had the guts to actually go through with this. She could go to the club, go through the preliminary checks and if she felt uncomfortable at anytime, she could pull out. It was still a big step though, meeting someone online and arranging to meet up with them for sex. She couldn’t sugar coat it. The fact was that if she met DomMPF then it was for the express purpose of having sex with him and that was so far out of her wheelhouse that she felt a little lost by it.

DomMPF: Am I moving too fast for you?

NewGRL549: A little. I don’t know anything about you except that you’re a Dom.

DomMPF: Okay, what would you like to know?

NewGRL549: What do you do, IRL I mean.

DomMPF: I founded an international technology company. I’m a geek who likes to play computer games and made a career out of it. What about you? What do you do IRL?

NewGRL549: I write horror novels under a pseudonym. No one except my editor and my butcher know who I really am.

DomMPF: Anything I would have read?

NewGRL549: I don’t know… have you produced any games I might have played?

DomMPF: Haha. Touché. So NewGRL549, do you want to take this to the next step?

Abby lifted her fingers away from the keyboard and ran them along her lips. Could DomMPF be what she was looking for? Kissing Mason and the way he had used his hands and body to restrain her had lit her up like a strand of Christmas lights. Ideally, she’d like him to be the one, but he was so far avoiding her and she didn’t think another opportunity to get up close and personal with him was going to present itself in the near future. Meanwhile, she had an opportunity to explore a side of herself that she had always fantasised about in what seemed like a safe environment, if a little off-centre.

NewGRL549: Okay. I’m a little scared, but I think I am ready to take the next step.

She smiled to herself as DomMPF gave her the name of the club and his email address so that she could contact him if she had any questions or if she wanted to pull out of it at any time. She liked that about him, that he seemed to take her safety and state of mind into consideration. She also liked that he had suggested a third party to facilitate their meeting. If nothing else, it would be good research for a future book.

She went to bed surprisingly excited for the coming week. Again she dreamed of DomMPF and again he had Mason’s face. She refused to analyse that too closely, it was just her brain making random connections. That was her story and she was sticking to it.