Chapter 3
Juliana arrived on the Tuesday at seven with a bottle of wine and a grin that announced, before she’d even said a word, that she was in a good mood and looking forward to the evening.
“I had the best day,” she said, kissing Helena on both cheeks and handing her the wine as she walked past into the apartment. “My supervisor told me my research proposal was, and I quote, the most original she’d seen from a master’s student in three years. So, I figure I’m basically a genius.”
“Basically.” Helena smiled as she followed Juliana into the kitchen, watching her pull two glasses from the shelf.
It may have only been a few months that they’d been doing whatever this was, but she’d been to Helena’s apartment as Mariana’s friend many times over recent years and certainly knew where the wine glasses were kept. “Congratulations. That’s great.”
“It is great. I deserve wine and praise.” Juliana turned and leaned against the counter, looking at Helena with an expression that was equal parts playful and expectant. “In whatever order you think is best.”
Helena looked at her properly. Juliana was twenty-three with dark, curly hair that she wore in a way that told everyone who cared to ask that she’d given up trying to control the chaos years ago.
It suited her, either way, the hair and her deep brown eyes, not to mention a body to die for…
Helena had had a thing for Juliana for as long as she could remember, longer than she should probably admit.
Juliana had always been the one that she got on with best out of Mariana’s friends.
Juliana’s beauty was so different to Caitlin’s.
Where Caitlin had been polished and immaculate, Juliana was spontaneous bordering on the chaotic.
She wore what she liked, said what she thought, and approached life with an openness that Helena found both refreshing and, in the context of their arrangement, exciting.
It was that playfulness, the irreverent, up-for-anything energy that came off her in waves, that had made Helena anticipate their switching sessions with particular pleasure.
Having Juliana take the lead meant being on the receiving end of someone who found genuine delight in every new thing she tried, who laughed when it went wrong and celebrated when it went right.
Helena had known Juliana for years. She’d been Mariana’s closest friend since their school days, a constant presence at their house and when they went away to her family’s beach house, the girl with the wild curls who argued with Helena’s father about politics over Sunday lunch and made Mariana’s mother laugh so hard she had to leave the room.
Helena had watched her grow from a gangly teenager into a smart, confident young woman doing her master’s in psychology, and she’d always liked her…
well, maybe a little stronger than that, but she’d have never done anything about it.
That had changed three months ago. Helena had been out with Mariana and a few of their friends, and Juliana had stayed behind after the others left.
She’d been uncharacteristically nervous, fidgeting with her glass, before finally saying that she’d heard something through a friend of a friend, the sort of gossip that couldn’t always be relied on, about Helena having had some experience with a particular kind of dynamic.
She’d been vague about the specifics, clearly unsure of how much was true and how much was embellishment, but the core of it was right.
Helena had considered denying it because the last thing she wanted was for it to get back to her sister that she was into the dominant submissive scene, but she’d known Juliana for long enough to know she could trust her and Juliana’s directness deserved an honest response. “What is it you want to know?”
“I want to learn,” Juliana had said. “I’ve been curious for a long time.
I’ve tried things with partners and it always feels like we’re both guessing.
I want to understand it properly, from someone who actually knows what they’re doing.
” She’d paused, then with characteristic bluntness added, “I’m pretty certain that I’m naturally dominant. I want to learn how.”
Helena had told her she’d think about it, and she had, for a week, carefully.
There were obvious complications. Juliana was her sister’s best friend.
Mariana would find out, inevitably, in some form or another.
The age gap, while only two years, carried different weight when one person was the teacher.
But Juliana was an adult, she was asking clearly for something specific, and Helena was, she knew, well placed to provide it. She’d agreed, with one condition.
“Before I teach you to dominate,” Helena had told her over coffee, “you need to understand submission. Really understand it, from the inside. Not intellectually… you need to understand it physically, emotionally. You need to know what it feels like to surrender before you can ask someone else to do it for you.”
Juliana had agreed without hesitation, which told Helena something important about her character: she wasn’t interested in dominance as a power trip. She was genuinely curious about the whole dynamic, both sides of it.
The first time had been weird, but good weird because they could both laugh about it.
But then, initial awkwardness out of the way, they fell into it fully.
The first month had been all about Helena dominating Juliana, teaching her what submission felt like, showing her how a good dominant operates, letting her experience the trust and vulnerability from the receiving end.
Juliana had taken to it with the same enthusiasm she brought to everything, asking questions afterwards that showed she genuinely wanted to understand the mechanics as well as the experience.
Then they’d switched, or at least soft-switched, Helena coaching Juliana through her first attempts at dominance, patient and encouraging, correcting gently.
Juliana had been nervous and clumsy at first, over-thinking every command, apologising when she didn’t need to.
But she’d improved fast… she was smart and observant but more than anything, crucially, she listened.
Now, three months in, they switched regularly.
As much as anything, Helena realised, Juliana had learned all she was going to learn…
from here on it was all about her finding her own styles, her own techniques, and Helena was more than happy to be her test subject.
While she naturally leaned heavily towards dominance, Helena had had several relationships where she was the submissive since Alessandra.
She enjoyed both sides, all depending on the other person, and what she could see with Juliana was that she could very easily turn into the right person…
there would come a moment, Helena suspected, not too far from now, where something clarified between them, where Juliana’s growing comfort as a dominant would become so great that Helena would naturally submit to her.
And then, well, there’d be an interesting decision to make because it was one thing fooling around with her sister’s best friend, quite another becoming her submissive.
Still, they weren’t quite there yet. For now, Helena remained the one in charge.
Just about.
“So,” Helena said, pouring the wine and handing a glass to Juliana. “How have you been practising?”
Juliana took a sip and her grin widened. “I’ve been thinking about what you said last time you let me take control. What you said about confidence. About how the dominant needs to project certainty even when they don’t feel it, because the submissive needs to trust that someone else is in control.”
“And?”
“And I practised in the mirror.” She laughed. “Which sounds absurd, I know, but you said it would help and it did. I practised giving commands. Looking at myself and saying things with authority.”
“Show me.”
Juliana put her glass down and straightened up. Helena watched the transformation, not complete, not yet, almost but not quite, but there was a visible shift. Her shoulders went back, her chin lifted slightly, her eyes took on a seriousness and a passion that hadn’t been there moments before.
“Come here,” Juliana said. Her voice was firmer than her usual light, playful tone. Not harsh, not cold, just certain.
Helena felt a little flutter of pleasure. Juliana was getting better at this. She wanted to obey. “Good. That was good. Your voice is much more assured than last time.”
Juliana broke character immediately and beamed. “Really? I’ve been working on it. Fernanda, she doesn’t know why obviously, but she told me I sounded like a different person on the phone the other day. More assertive.”
“The trick,” Helena said, stepping closer and taking Juliana’s hand, “is that it’s not acting.
Not really. You’re not pretending to be dominant.
You’re allowing yourself access to a part of you that’s already there.
The confidence, the decisiveness, you have those already, you show them at university all the time.
Here, you’re just directing them differently. ”
“Towards you.”
“Towards me.” Helena smiled. “People make the mistake of thinking that being dominant means being a bitch to someone. That is absolutely not the case. You,” she squeezed Juliana’s hand to emphasise her point, “you can be something special, bringing the joy and fun that you bring to your everyday and making your submissive’s surrender a joyful experience. ”
Juliana’s grin got wider. “You think I can make it joyful?”
“I know you can.” Helena let go of her hand and took a sip of her wine. “Let’s focus on that tonight. I want you to take the lead. I’ll guide you if you need it, but I want you to trust your instincts more. Ok?”
“You’re telling me to be dominant?”
Helena laughed. “The submissive’s the one with…”
“… the true power,” Juliana finished. “Good point. I’ll try to get it right.”
“That’s what this is for, for you to learn. There’s no penalty for getting it wrong, only for not trying.”
“You sound like my supervisor.”
“Your supervisor sounds like a smart woman. You decide when we start.”
Juliana nodded. “Not yet. Let’s talk and enjoy the wine first.”
“You see… joyful. You’re a natural.”