“Valerie, I get the impression you’ve earned a Dom correction or two,” Gabi asked gently. “Want to share?”
No way.
Or…maybe yes?
Yes.
“Turning fifty was rough, partly because my husband’s slaves had been calling me ugly and old. And their opinion ended up being how I saw myself.”
“We need to bitch-slap Kahlua for her,” Sally muttered. All the nods of agreement totally made Valerie’s night.
“I can see how your experience would leave you with a challenge.” Gabi nodded in understanding. “Most of us remember insults far longer than compliments.”
“Exactly.” Valerie rolled her eyes. “Ghost says I have to make it through the next club night without any thoughts or comments about being old and unattractive.”
“Ooooh, good luck.” Jessica shook her head in sympathy.
“It could happen. Maybe.” Between her own work and Ghost’s help, Valerie really was a lot more comfortable in her skin these days.
“All us humans have insecurities, you know.” Gabi wiggled a fried cheese stick to make her point. “Even our Doms. Often enough, they think they need to be strong for us and won’t share when they have problems.”
“You nailed it,” Zuri said. “That’s Alastair, especially if one of his kid patients dies.”
“And Cullen when there’s a bad fire,” Andrea agreed.
“And Z,” Jessica said under her breath.
“Or they have old wounds to set them off. Like previous bad relationships, losses…” Gabi said.
And got a vigorous nod from Natalia.
“Sometimes their jobs get to them,” Sally said. “But shooting my Master Grumpy Pants and Master Frownie Face with ice water worked pretty well.”
Valerie choked. “That would be so unwise.”
“Right? Sally, my dear, if you spray Master Sam with ice water, I’ll be happy to watch. From a distance.” Linda glanced at Valerie. “Because there’s pain and then there’s pain.”
“So, I have discovered,” Valerie agreed.
“Totally. No ice water for sadists,” Natalia said with a grin, “or evil Mistresses.”
“Speaking of evil Mistresses…” Sally pushed Natalia’s glass closer to her. “Have some lube, sister, then spill the deets. How are you and the Brit doing? You’ve been, like, missing in action since the other night.”
Natalia flushed, took a gulp of her drink, then smiled at Gabi and Valerie. “First, thank you. For the advice.”
Sally’s eyes narrowed. “What advice? I know about the Chelsey photoshopping scam—the bitch—but what advice?”
“We told Natalia to confront Olivia at the bar,” Gabi smirked, “when either Z or Ghost were there, preferably both.”
“Ooooh, so brilliantly evil.” Jessica snickered, then frowned at Natalia. “But you ran out without finishing the fight. What happened then?”
Natalia tsked at her. “Don’t you know curiosity killed the cat?”
“Personally, I always thought Mr. Curiosity was framed,” Valerie muttered—and after a second, the Shadowkittens whooped in laughter.
Andrea leaned forward, grinning at Natalia. “You’re not going to escape, girlfriend.”
Slightly worried, Valerie watched Natalia’s expression, then relaxed. The young woman was pleased to be pushed into sharing.
“So, after I left, well, I was all mad and everything, and I didn’t even go back to my house until the next day, and she was sitting on the steps waiting for me.”
“Oh, boo,” Zuri murmured in sympathy and reached across to pat her hand.
“I was all cold and told her to leave, only she showed me the photo. A Domme with me, and we were on a bed and obviously fucking, and I…I couldn’t find any words.” Natalia shook her head. “I mean, I know I was never with the woman in the picture, and I still thought for a minute that person was me.”
“And?” Sally prompted.
“Mistress apologized, and we talked. And we made-up.” Natalia sighed and her smile took over her face.
“Ah-huh. They had makeup sex,” Sally muttered.
“It’s totally the best,” Zuri agreed.
Makeup sex. Valerie felt her shoulders slump as she remembered how she and Ghost had fought. Makeup sex could only happen if a couple actually made-up.
“Sometimes, it’s the best…” Gabi scowled. “Sometimes, the sex involves handprints.”
Natalia giggled and nodded. “I had trouble sitting down for two days.”
“No.” Shocked, Valerie straightened. “The breakup wasn’t your fault.”
“The breakup wasn’t.” The brown eyes filled with mischief. “But my poor Mistress felt awfully bad about what happened and was being so nice. Really, way too nice to tolerate. So I kind of on-purpose set her off and…”
“You, woman, are a subbie after my own heart.” Reaching around Andrea, Gabi fist-bumped Natalia.
“So…we have Natalia and Mistress Olivia back together.” Jessica grinned at Valerie. “And if Ghost is going all Dom on your ass does that means you two are together?”