Chapter 34 Three
Three
Emma’s visit to the private clinic was surprising.
She’d half expected something seedy or at least coldly sexy.
But the tree-lined street looked like any other suburban neighborhood.
The other patients in the spacious waiting room looked like soccer moms and professional women.
The framed impressionist prints were all sunflowers and water lilies.
The examining room had been like any other she’d ever been in. A nurse drew blood and labelled it with bar-coded stickers, then left.
The doctor, a tall good-looking man in his late forties, looked like a former tennis pro.
He was tan and lean with an engaging smile and strong hands.
No mention was made of the Marquis Club, but he took a detailed sexual history.
She wasn’t even sure what a couple of the things he asked about were.
She stammered and blushed, but got through the questions, vaguely suspicious that her relative inexperience would be reported back to the other club members.
Would it be viewed as a good thing? Or would they wonder whether she was just a little prude who was trying to peek into their debauched world?
He did a pelvic exam, which she’d been expecting. And a rectal exam, which she hadn’t. She’d blushed furiously and clenched at first, but in the end she’d consented, and it turned out to be quicker and less painful than the vaginal exam.
After the visit, she dressed like the office was on fire and hustled out. Kate sat serenely in the waiting room, reading a text.
“Ready?” Emma asked.
Kate smiled at her. “Sure.”
They rode the elevator silently, flanked by several other people including a mother and daughter who were discussing a baby shower.
Kate shot Emma a look, complete with conspiratorial eye-roll, as the women argued heatedly over tiny details, like the exact shade of yellow for the napkins.
Lemon v. flax. Emma smothered a laugh as they finally exited.
When they returned to Kate’s shiny maroon Miata, Emma looked it over longingly. Her own had been having issues. “This is a really nice car.”
“Yes, it’s… new.” Kate, flushing, didn’t say more, and Emma wondered whether it had been a gift from the His of His kitten.
When they were safely inside the car, Emma said, “So, that appointment… The doctor asked so many questions! I feel like a sex-worker, but a really poorly informed one. He must’ve thought I was a complete idiot. What’s rimming?”
Kate laughed, pulling out of the lot and zooming down the street. “Don’t worry. One of the best things about the Marquis Club is that no one judges you. Not for the experiences you’ve had or the ones you haven’t. It’s about figuring out what turns you on and doing that.”
“Medical exams are not a turn-on.”
“No?”
Emma blinked. “Um, no,” she added a little less certainly. There had been a second or two when she’d started to fantasize, but that was just, well, odd.
“Do you have dinner plans, Kate?” Emma blurted.
“Unfortunately, I have to eat on the run. Project due, plus I have to go to the club. Rain check?”
Emma nodded, disappointed. She’d begun to feel a kinship with Kate. She wasn’t looking forward to going back to the dining hall to eat alone.
“How long will it take for the results to be processed? A week or two?”
Kate’s lips pursed in a pout, then she smiled. “Usually yes, but I know someone who will give the clinic a little push to get the results quickly. Should I ask him to call?”
“If it’s not too much trouble. Now that I’ve decided to take a tour, I’m anxious to, um, get started.”
“You’re not the only one who’ll be interested in having your paperwork and screenings expedited.”
“Who?”
“There are a couple of club members, one in particular, whom I’m excited for you to meet.”
“Why’s that?” Emma asked, Kate’s excitement fueling her own.
Kate pulled into a parking spot. “Can you do something for me?”
“Sure, of course.”
“Will you close your eyes and be silent while I make a call?”
“Do you want privacy? I can get out.”
“No, no.”
“All right.”
“Sit back and close your eyes,” Kate said softly. She had a lovely voice.
Emma rested her head against the headrest, and her lids drifted down. The sound of Kate’s phone calling someone filled the car. She’d put it on speaker.
“Hello?” a man’s brusque voice answered.
“Hello, Sir. It’s Kate from the Club.” Kate’s voice was softer, a little breathier, than it had been when she’d been talking to Emma.
“Which club?” he said in a rough British accent.
“The American one in Connecticut.”
“The Kate who wouldn’t let me buy her an Alexander McQueen dress?”
“Master Randall, that would be against the rules. But yes, it’s me, Kate.”
“Hello, love,” he said in a tone warm enough to fog the car’s windows. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“May I ask for a favor?”
“Of course. Name it.”
“I’ve found a young woman who I think might be a really good fit for the club.”
“What’s she like then?”
“She’s lovely. Very sweet. She’s built like Marilyn Monroe.”
“Christ. Is she really? Hips and bum, too? Not a swizzle stick who’s had double-D implants?”
“Definitely not. I’d guess a fourteen, American dress size, and she fills it out beautifully.”
“Where did she come from? Another club?”
“No, she’s a college student. I think we’ll be her first club if she joins. Anyway, I like her. I know you’re in London, but I just took her for the medical screening. Sometimes the results can take a while, and D’s out of the country this week. Could you make a phone call?”
“Done.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
“Kate, I expect a phone call after she’s had the tour and interview. I want to hear how it went.” The tone of his voice had become commanding.
“Yes, Sir.”
“In your judgment, is this girl a sub?”
“Yes, I have reason to think so.”
A sub? A sexual submissive? What made Kate think so? Emma hadn’t done anything—
“If she’s a sub, you know what she needs. Make sure she gets it,” Randall ordered.
Emma was torn. His masterful voice and concern were arousing, but they were also intimidating. Emma raised her lids a fraction of an inch.
Kate licked her lips. “Yes, Sir.”
“Good girl. I’ll speak to you tomorrow night.”
“Sir, that’s too soon,” Kate said, alarmed. “I don’t know who’s free to do an initial interview, and Doms aren’t—they don’t rearrange their schedules on a sub’s whim.”
“They do if a sub is very sweet when she asks.”
Kate flushed. “I’ll try.”
“Good girl. Speak to you tomorrow.”
The call disconnected. “All right, so that was a mistake,” Kate said.
“Are you in trouble?”
“No, but…” Kate tucked her hair behind her ear.
“You might as well understand something right off the bat. The Marquis Doms make sure a sub gets what she needs to be sexually satisfied. And it’s very exciting to be the focus of all that attention.
But they are also a very demanding group of men.
If they order a sub to do something, she does it… Or is punished.”
“But what if she tries and can’t?” Emma asked, her body tight with anticipation.
“If they believe you did everything possible, it’s okay.
But not all the Doms look at things the same way.
If I’m sweet enough about it, I could ask Master Randall for practically any favor in the world and he’d do it.
He loves to spoil submissive women. In fact, he’s the reason there are special policies about what kinds of gifts a Dom can give a sub.
It got out of hand. But if a sub tries to flirt and sweet talk a different Dom into doing what she wants, that Dom might see it as an attempt to manipulate him and that can only end one way.
” Kate licked her lips. “Doms are in charge. Period. If a sub seems to have forgotten that basic fact, he’s only too happy to remind her of it. ”
“But the roles assumed during sex don’t apply once the sex is over, do they?” Emma asked, thinking of the overly deferential way Kate had spoken to Randall. She’d called him Master for God’s sake.
“It really depends on the Dom.”
Emma frowned. “Well, I wouldn’t like that. We go to one of the most prestigious schools in the country, and we got here on our merit. I would never disrespect anyone, but I expect to have that respect reciprocated. Anything else wouldn’t be fair. Maybe that means I’m not actually submissive.”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure you’re submissive. I just don’t know whether you’re ready to accept it.”
“See, now why do you assume I am? You don’t know the first thing about my life.”
Kate smiled. “I know you were all dressed up on a Saturday night and instead of having unsatisfying sex with a random guy, you were in a shop that caters to BDSM aficionados. I know that when I mentioned on the loop that there are several scenes of bondage and punishment in the Let’s Get Kinky DVD, you took the bait and went to Lady Oh’s to investigate. ”
“I didn’t buy it.”
“No, but I bet that’s not because you didn’t want to. It’s expensive, so not an item you purchase and discard. But the dorm rooms are small. There aren’t a lot of safe places to hide things like that. What if someone found it? Or caught you watching it?”
Emma flushed. “How—?”
“How do I know what you were thinking? Because before the club I thought the exact same way.”
“And are you glad you joined the Marquis Club?”
“God, yes.”
“Even though the Doms are overbearing?”
“No, not ‘even though they’re overbearing.’ Because they’re overbearing and great Doms. During the times when everything in my life outside the club is stressful and confusing, there’s a place I can go where my master knows exactly what I need and gives it to me.
It’s not just about hot sex. It’s a lot more than that.
Sometimes I walk into the club and feel such a sense of relief. It’s a home away from home.”
“Is that why you volunteered to be a liaison? To bring other wayward subs into the fold?” Emma asked without a drop of sarcasm.
“Yes, exactly,” Kate said. “And now you have to come because Randall will make sure your test results are back by tomorrow, which means I have to arrange your visit ASAP. Please tell me your free the next couple of nights?”
“I am. And I’m ready.”
“Perfect.” Kate reached over and squeezed Emma’s arm. “I’m excited for you.”
Emma licked her lips. She was excited, too. Among other things.