But this delightful dream of theirs had to end. Slowly, the rest of the world came crawling back, reality setting in.
Faith’s eyelids fluttered open. Eve was beside her, gazing back into her eyes.
“Welcome back to the land of the living,” she said.
“What time is it?” Faith murmured. It had to be getting late. She couldn’t stay here in Eve’s bed forever. They’d broken so many rules tonight, crossed so many of the boundaries they’d set .
“Why? Do you have somewhere to be?”
Faith sat up slowly. “No, but—”
Eve pressed a finger to Faith’s lips. “We have the house to ourselves until tomorrow evening. No one knows you’re here. I wasn’t planning on letting you leave this bed until at least midday.”
Faith yawned and lay back down. “If you say so.”
“And I’m not done with you yet. There’s one more thing I want to do with you.” Eve kissed Faith on the forehead and got up. “Stay right there.”
As Eve left the room, Faith sprawled out across the bed. She wasn’t going anywhere. She was so deep under Eve’s spell that she was powerless to do anything but obey.
Chapter Twenty-One
W hen Eve returned a minute later, she was carrying two bowls heaped with freshly whipped cream.
Faith sat up and dragged her fingers through her hair. “Is that dessert?”
“Chocolate cream pie, as promised.” Eve handed her a bowl.
Suddenly, Faith was ravenous. She took a bite. It was sweet, rich, and tasted homemade in the best way. “Mm. This is just what I need right now.”
“This is why I saved dessert.” Eve slipped into bed next to her, her own bowl in her hand, and stretched her legs out. “Sweet things and aftercare go well together.”
“What’s aftercare?” Faith asked between mouthfuls.
“You’re feeling really good right now, aren’t you? Light. High.”
Faith nodded.
“Eventually, you’re going to come down from that high. Aftercare is a dominant’s way of catching you when you do. It’s me keeping all the good feelings flowing so you don’t crash.” Eve gestured toward the ropes still dangling from the headboard. “All this can be intense. Overwhelming. It can leave a person feeling vulnerable and raw, mentally and emotionally.”
“I don’t feel like that.”
“Maybe not right now. But you still need this.” Eve took a bite of pie and placed her bowl on the nightstand next to her. “Besides, this is as much for me as it is for you. I’ll let you in on a little secret. It’s not just the submissive that surrenders to her dominant. A Domme must surrender to her true desires, the kind that society considers perverse and twisted. She must trust her submissive to accept that dark side of her. It’s a vulnerable state to be in.”
“I never thought about it that way,” Faith said. “This is all so much more complicated than I thought.” She looked at Eve. “How did you get into this? Being a Domme, I mean?”
“Do you want the short answer or the long answer?”
“The long one.” This was a big part of who Eve was. Faith wanted to know why.
Eve reached toward the foot of the bed and picked up the rope she’d used to bind Faith’s ankles. “There was more to my marriage and divorce than I told you. More to what happened between me and Harrison and the rest of his family.” She drew the rope through her hands, straightening out the kinks, then began tying it in a knot. “His parents, they were constantly trying to control our lives. Pressuring me to have children, to quit my job. At first, Harrison would stand up to them, but over time, he began to side with them. And when I became pregnant with the twins, it all became so much worse. ”
Eve finished her knot, then started on another one. “I ended up in the hospital because of complications from the pregnancy. I was drained of all my strength—physically, mentally, emotionally. I wasn’t myself. And when I almost lost the twins, I was so afraid. I was vulnerable and weak, and Harrison, he took advantage of that to convince me to finally quit my job. He told me that I had to do what was best for the twins. That I was being selfish by continuing to work. That by putting my desires first, I’d be failing my children. There’s so much pressure, as a mother, to make the right choices, and his words, they just ate at me.”
This wasn’t the first time Eve had spoken of Harrison’s manipulative tendencies, but Faith hadn’t expected anything so extreme. How could anyone be so cruel toward someone they were supposed to love?
“His mother was even worse.” Eve began tying another knot in the rope, this time looping it over and under in a complex pattern. “We were never close until I became pregnant, then suddenly, I was her beloved daughter. My parents had moved to England by then, and my mother was dealing with some serious health issues, so they weren’t able to visit. Eleanor stepped into my mother’s role, staying by my bedside while I was in the hospital. She pretended to be sympathetic, while really she was manipulating me. She convinced me that I’d be a bad mother if I didn’t fully dedicate myself to the twins. This was while there was still a chance that I’d lose them. I spent the rest of my pregnancy in the hospital, terrified that the twins wouldn’t make it. So when they were born happy and healthy, I was so relieved.”
Eve looped the rope once more and pulled it tight, leaving an elaborate knot in the middle. “But still, I was unhappy. I loved the twins so much, but I just felt empty. As time went on, as they grew up, those feelings didn’t go away. I needed something more to be fulfilled. Eventually, I decided something had to change. I told Harrison I was going back to work, but he forbade it. By then, I was so worn down from constantly being controlled by him and his family that I didn’t fight him. And I was too depressed to see how messed up my situation was. Instead, I just became even more withdrawn. Harrison couldn’t understand why I was so unhappy. I had the perfect life. I had everything a woman could possibly want. His mother told me the same thing. That my family should be enough for me.”