Story

I shifted slightly in my seat, as Mr. Jenkins finished speaking to our newest client. Soon to be a junior partner in the firm, I had been one of the hottest new prospects to come out of Harvard in the past ten years. I had chosen this firm because of the prestige, and the long list of high profile clients. I had built a steady track record of wins for the firm, and quickly moved up the ladder. A few more impressive victories and I would become a FULL partner. Smiling inwardly, I thought of the new name: Gempler, Madison ....and soon-to-be Preston, Attorneys at Law. I was on my way to the top!

Sipping champagne, I glanced at our client. Mrs. Rebecca Printon wished to divorce her very wealthy husband of three years, citing several incidents of infidelity. She had been suspicious of him for a very long time, and had hired a detective to follow him. Her instincts had been correct, as the successful businessman was spending his nights working late---working on his kept mistress, that is. I had seen the photos of the other woman; she was obvious street trash, bleached blonde hair, layered mascara and eye shadow, clothing that barely covered her doctor-enhanced cleavage, even the four inch stiletto heels she always wore. The woman had 'fuck me' written all over her...literally! A small tattoo of the words 'FUCK ME' was visible on her chest in one of the pictures. I was much looking forward to this simple open and shut case. I had never been married---with my busy life I didn't even have much time for dating---but I had no respect for loose sexual perversity, man or woman. I suppose it gave me personal satisfaction of a sort to be able to help this woman get revenge on her cheating husband. It would give me great pleasure not only to help my client win her due, and gain another win, but also to plug that cheating lowlife of a husband and his floozy of a mistress for every cent they had.

He must be loaded if his estranged wife can afford to bring us to this fancy place to dine while we discuss the case, I thought idly to myself. The champagne was excellent, one of those two hundred dollar a bottle kinds, the kind I would be able to afford myself after this case. I was listening to Mr. Jenkins go over the final points of our case when I noticed something odd from the corner of my eye. At a table just to the left and behind mine, sat a man and woman. The man was handsome, kind of average looking, with raven Darke hair, golden bronze skin, and deep brown eyes. He was a bit underdressed for this establishment, in my opinion, wearing only a dress shirt and slacks, not even a tie. But the woman was the surprise. She was dressed exquisitely, in a tight-fitting scarlet sequined dress, off the shoulders, molded to draw attention to her ample breasts. Her long platinum blonde hair was stylishly cut and styled, her makeup totally perfect, down to her manicured and polished nails. She almost looked familiar, like a model or perhaps an actress. She was the picture of poise and charm, and for a moment I found myself envious of her good looks. But what came next totally blew me away.

"You look totally ravishing tonight, my dear," the man said, idly caressing her soft pale cheek. "I'll have to see to it that you are well RAVISHED later," he added with a grin. The woman laughed, blushing cutely. Personally, such a candid remark would have made me upset, but the woman apparently liked it. "Dinner will take a little while," the man continued, "so I think we will have to satisfy ourselves with appetizers."

"Oh," the woman said, pouting, almost like a little girl. "But I'm hungry, NOW! Please, can't I have a little something to suck on right now until the food comes? Please Master?"

Master? Did she just call him Master? I thought perhaps I was hearing things at first, but to my surprise, the man smiled a totally evil looking smirk, and chuckled. "Well, you HAVE been a good little slave the past few weeks, so I guess I can oblige you this once. Go under the table and have your treat." To my utter shock and surprise, the woman smiled grandly, slid to the floor of the restaurant, crawled under the table, and proceeded to unbutton the man's pants!!

"Did you see that?" I whispered softly to Ralph Jenkins, sitting at my right. He glanced up at me, a mouth full of salad, frowning. "The table behind us," I whispered again, harshly, pulling his arm to keep him from turning around now. "No, don't look they'll know we know what they're doing!"

"Well what ARE they doing?" Mrs. Printon asked loudly, glancing around wildly. Inwardly I cursed, wondering at that moment if the woman's lack of tact was why her husband had started cheating on her. Sighing deeply, I pointed to the table behind us, down at the pair of red satin pumps visible beneath the tablecloth. Mrs. Printon's eyes grew wide, and her hand went to her face. "Why...why...that's disgraceful!" she sputtered. "Behaving like that in public, of all things! I just don't believe it!" She turned around and glanced at the man, who smiled and waved at us. The audacity of it all!

Mrs. Printon was beside herself. "Have you no shame?" she yelled, loud enough that several people glanced around at our two tables. Nonplused, the man continued to smile, sighing softly in pleasure at what was no doubt going on under the table.

"Actually, no. I don't have any shame whatsoever," he commented, leaning back in his chair.

"I'm going to get the manager and have you two thrown out of here!" Mrs. Printon said, bubbling over with rage. "Of all the nerve!"

I stood up from the chair, grabbing Mrs. Printon's hand before she could walk towards the maitre'd. "Wait, Mrs. Printon, please," I said frantically. "Let's not make a scene." Or a bigger one that the one she had already caused. "I'm sure we can all talk about this calmly, without having anyone thrown out of here." I glanced back at the man, hoping he at least had the good sense to call his woman back to his seat, and found him smiling still, his head cocked to the side, as if slightly amused at my predicament. I was tempted to call the manager myself, but the uproar of the whole thing would bring unwanted bad press to the firm, which would seriously hurt my upward rise. "Let's move to another table where the view is not so...disturbing."

We quietly got up from our table and sat down at an unoccupied table about ten feet away. The waiter noticed us moving and came to inquire what the problem was. Before I could respond, Mrs. Printon again let loose with a mini-tirade. "That...that..BEAST of a man sitting next to us had his woman doing...DISGUSTING things, under the table! Your manager should know about this! How can such a fine restaurant like this allow such a person as HIM to even come inside---"

"HIM?" the waiter gestured at the man, who again smiled and waved at us. "You MUST be mistaken, Madame. That is Doctor Jonothan Darke, one of our best patrons. He is the epitome of class and charm! He was in fact the very first customer we ever served here, and he has been coming back ever since. No, Madame, I think you must have made a mistake."

"Mistake? MISTAKE? Go see for yourself! There is a LADY underneath his table giving him oral sex!" she said, again, so loudly that everyone stopped and stared. I groaned inwardly, imagining tomorrow's headlines: Famous Law Firm involved in Restaurant Scandal! Young promising lawyer, Shelley Preston. jailed for attempting to strangle wealthy loud mouthed woman...

Wordlessly, the waiter walked back to the man's table, whispered for a while, then knelt down and lifted the tablecloth. Even from this distance, we could all see the woman underneath, still going at it with apparent vigor. The waiter shook his head, and walked back to us. Mrs. Printon smiled smugly, her arms crossed, obviously expecting an apology. The waiter didn't seem the slightest bit apologetic to me.

"Excuse me, madams, and sir," the waiter said stiffly. "I do not know why you wanted to embarrass me and that poor man with such talk, but I looked for myself and saw no one. I will ask you all to sit down and await your orders, or kindly leave. But I ask you not to bother Dr. Darke again." Turning stiffly, fists clenched at his side, he walked away. Mr. Jenkins and Mrs. Printon were too shocked to even respond, but I was not about to let this go so easily.

"Just what do you think you are trying to pull here?" I asked the waiter, catching up with him. "Are you actually trying to tell me that he and that woman were doing nothing wrong? That is bullshit! She was clearly there, sucking his COCK, and everyone in the line of sight saw it!" With a snarl, the waiter grabbed my arm, pulling me off to the side. His grip was tight on my arm and I yelled, jerking away. "Who do you think you are messing with?!?" I screamed. "Get your manager over here NOW! I'm a lawyer, and if you don't want this place closed down, you'll---"

"That's quite alright Henry," the man, Dr. Darke, said. I hadn't seen him approach, and apparently neither had the waiter. "I'm sure that this young lawyer and I can settle this without resorting to harsh words." He patted the waiter on the shoulder, and smiled. "Go on back to your station, and just forget about this whole incident." A kind of glazed look flashed through his eyes for a moment, then smiling stupidly, the waiter walked away. "Now then," he said, addressing me. "What seems to be the problem? You didn't like the show we were putting, I take it?"

I crossed my arms and glared at the man. "So, you admit to it? That this woman was pleasuring you, and that you talked that waiter into looking the other way."

Dr. Darke shook his head. "You see things so one-dimensional. Yes, my lady friend was going down on me under the table. She wanted to, and as she had been a good girl the past several weeks I decided to let her. You see, its a thrill for her, being able to do things like that in public. She's a bit of an exhibitionist. With me, she gets to do things she would never have the guts to do alone. As for Henry there," he said, gesturing to the young waiter, "he's a good kid, I've known him all his life, and he couldn't bring himself to believe anything bad about me."

"Well good kid or not, he lied when he said he saw no one under your table. Half the room saw her, and no amount of denying it will make it go away! Damn you, I am a lawyer entertaining an important client here for dinner, and this little stunt of yours is going to ruin it! Hell, its no doubt already ruined, and this whole thing will no doubt end up in tomorrow's paper!"

The doctor smiled, placing a hand on my chin, turning my face slightly to the side. I was stunned for a second at such a personal touch from a stranger, but coming back to myself I jerked away. "What the fuck---"

"Calm down, young lady," he said smoothly. "I was merely admiring your profile. I have an eye for beauty, and I can see yours shining through. Its hidden well inside that stuffy proud exterior of yours, behind those horn rimmed glasses and that heavy starched business suit. I was just thinking about Lisa, the girl back at my table. She was just like you, at first, believe it or not. If you saw a picture of her a year ago you wouldn't believe its the same person." He turned to walk back to his table. "I wonder how you will look when you finally come out of your shell."

What do you say to something like that? What COULD I say? Anyway, when I went back into the room, he was back at his table, and his date...his SLAVE, he had called her...she was back as well, both eating dinner like nothing had happened. I made my way back to my own table, shuddering to think of what Mrs. Printon would say about the whole incident. To my utter disbelief, she smiled when I returned. "Oh THERE you are, my dear," she gushed in a soft girlish voice. "Ralph and I were beginning to think you had gotten lost. That nice waiter brought our order while you were away. I think your earlier presentation was more than adequate, and I'll agree with whatever course of action you want to take, but I have changed my mind about the settlement. Instead of ten million dollars, I only want two million, enough to establish myself and live comfortably. He can keep the rest, after all he deserves it for putting up with me!" She laughed long and loud, and I wondered if perhaps she had lost her mind. Moments before, she had went on and on about taking everything including the shirt off his back, and now...a complete one eighty!

"Mrs. Printon, do you realize what you are saying?" I asked her, ignoring Ralph Jenkins and his impatient glare. "You have him caught on film with another woman. You have him dead to rights. I know we could win this case for you, and get you ALL of it. No question! Think about it carefully before you decide to settle for a measly two million!"

"I HAVE thought it over, Ms. Preston," she told me, softly. "I am quite sure. I have made his life miserable for the past three years...I loved the money, not him. No, I'm not going to take everything he worked so hard for out of spite. Two million, it is." I knew my jaw must have hit the table because she smiled at me. "Don't worry, Ms. Preston, you'll still get your commission, and your company will continue to handle all my needs, if you want the business. I've just had a change of heart, that's all."

Drinking deeply from my glass of champagne, I wondered on that. Until then, I had assumed she had no heart at all.

Ralph Jenkins grinned from ear to ear as he placed the receiver back on the phone. "That was Mr. Madison himself, Shelley," he said excitedly. "With Printon under our wing, you have just earned your junior partnership. Congratulations, Ms. Preston, you've earned it!" He shook my hand, and I grinned trying not to preen at the attention. I had earned it after all, it had been a long hard struggle, but I was being rewarded. "Thanks Ralph. I appreciate your helping me with the depositions. You and I are a team, and I'm taking you to the top with me."

A devilish smile crossed his face---and for a moment it reminded me of the look that doctor had given his lady---SLAVE---in the restaurant earlier this evening. "Glad to know we are staying a team, Shelley. I wouldn't want to work with anyone else...or ON anyone else." I giggled at the foul-mouthed little scoundrel. Ralph was a good man, and a good friend, and for months he and I had bantered back and forth, playing a teasing game. I knew he wanted up my skirt, but I wasn't looking to play the Mistress for a married man. He knew how I felt as well, but it didn't stop him from making the occasional lewd remark and obvious come-on. I didn't mind. I knew it was all in fun, and we only bantered when we were alone. Besides, I secretly loved the attention.

"Come on, you heathen. We're the last ones to leave, except Madison and Gempler, and they practically LOVE here! I'll buy you a drink."

"Sorry, my dear," Ralph sighed, shaking his head. "The wife has opera tickets for this evening. She said come hell or high-water, we were going this time." I tried to hold in the laughter, but it spilled out anyway. "Oh thank you, soooo much, for your sympathy," he commented sarcastically. "I'll see you on Monday. Have a good weekend, and enjoy the free time. Starting Monday, you start the REAL work." Oh yes, I thought to myself, work. Junior partner kind of work. I was an executive, now. First thing in the morning I needed to go shopping for clothes to match my rise in station.

Stepping into my car, I thought again about that strange man, and the events of that day. It was all so unreal, it seemed like a dream; even now I could barely recall his face, other than a vague general description. The thing that stuck out the most in my mind was the woman. That lovely, vibrant, sexy young woman, who looked as lovely and as self confident as I longed to be. Yet that self same woman had begged her...her...Master? to be able to suck him off under the table in a crowded public restaurant. I had passed her again leaving the place after the luncheon, and she smiled and winked at me. She hadn't been embarrassed in the least, even though she must have known the incident it had nearly caused. The man had hardly seemed to mind either. It was all so strange. But for some reason my mind wouldn't let go of it. Like a song stick in your head, the image of that woman giving him a blowjob under the table kept flashing again and again in my mind.

"Its your own repressed libido that is obsessing over this," I said aloud to myself. When I am alone, I sometimes talk aloud to myself, to help argue points. It helps when preparing for a case to hear my own thoughts aloud. "You haven't had sex in over a year, and suddenly its flashed in front of your face, where you can't ignore it anymore." I had to admit, I was right. I wasn't a slut by any means, but until graduating law school I had certainly never been chaste. Maybe what I just needed was a good lay, to get my mind and body realigned again. "But where can you find a guy you'd like to be with out of the blue?" Hmmm...good question. Ralph was nice and a good friend, but my personal views on cheating prevented me from even contemplating it. "Then why did you even THINK of him in the first place?" Another good question. "And why does the thought of doing it with him make you feel...kinda nice? And a little wet?" A VERY good question. This wasn't like me at all. The image of the man and woman at the restaurant flashing in front of my eyes again, and I groaned as I felt a tingle deep inside.

A blast from the horn of an oncoming car broke me out of my thoughts, and I swerved back into the correct lane. Damn! I had nearly killed myself thinking about this. What the hell was wrong with me? "Nothing is wrong with you," I said to myself. "Its normal to get kind of freaked out seeing something like that." True. But Ralph Jenkins and Rebecca Printin seemed to have totally overlooked the incident, not even finding it worth mentioning. Almost as if they didn't even remember it. "But I do. I remember all too well. So why me? Why am I so hung up on this thing? And what is it that I am so hung up on?" Was it the daring, fearless way that the woman had went after what she wanted, without thinking or worrying what everyone else would think? Was it the man, that dark stranger that such a woman called Master, a man that could make her do something so humiliating in public, so calm and confident even when faced with angry irate people, condemning them, judging them, without any idea of what was going on? "Just like you did, at first, judging them, so shocked to see such a lovely woman degrade herself that way. But she didn't seem at all degraded or upset or embarrassed afterwards. She was happy, and completely at peace with herself." So, was it possibly a twinge of jealousy, of that woman's ability to put herself above other people's concerns, not trying to get into the good graces of everyone around her? "Maybe. Maybe all of the above in some part. What the...where in the hell am I?":

I stopped the car, peering out into the dark sky at the view before me. The car was parked in front of a strange house, a large, expensive, three story manor house, the kind I always pictured for myself once I became a partner. The odd thing was, I had been never been here before in my life! Somewhere along the ride home, I had become lost in my thoughts and driven by some reflex or something to this place. Furthermore, it had been only a quarter after six when I had left the office, with the sun still above the horizon, and now it was pitch Darke. Glancing at my watch, I found to my horror that the time was now, nine thirty! I glanced at the house again, to find the door now open, and a familiar man standing in the doorway, still looking amused. "Don't be so frightened, Ms. Preston," Dr. Darke said chuckling. "Its amazing how time flies when you get lost in thought. And you really WERE lost for a good while. Come inside, and I'll answer some of the nagging questions that you're just itching to ask."

I don't know what shocked me more, his knowing my name, which I had never mentioned, him expecting to see me here at his home, a place I had never been to before, or that he actually had ANSWERS for all the insanity that had just occurred. It didn't matter. Still in shock, I moved my legs enough to get out of the car, and follow him inside. My shock grew as I saw the woman from the restaurant lounging naked on the sofa, smiling and waving as we passed by. Another woman, a brunette, was cooking something in the kitchen, naked save for a long apron. Moving into what was obviously the master study, I sat down stiffly, while he closed the door and handed me a small glass. "What are you in the mood for? Brandy? Sherry? I've got a nice Cognac that I was nursing myself earlier. You didn't get to have that drink with Mr. Jenkins earlier, so hopefully I will do for a substitute." His words echoed in my already numb mind, as he poured some liquor into my glass. I didn't even know which one, until I tasted it. Brandy. Nice. Very smooth, with a nice bite to it. Rousing a bit from the fog, I turned to face him.

"What's going on here? Who are you? And how do you know all these things about me? How did you make me come here?" I felt a tide of hysteria building up in me, and I had to fight to keep it back.

He seemed to know what I was feeling. "Calm yourself, Ms. Preston. Drink more of the brandy, it will calm your nerves." He moved to sit down in a large leather easy chair, taking a small pipe from a stand, lighting it and placing it between his teeth. "Now then, let's start with the first one. 'What is going on here?' At the moment, you and I are talking, you searching for answers for why you seem so preoccupied on the incident earlier, and why you left for home and ended up HERE instead. There are no simple answers to either question, I'm afraid, I can only tell you what I know and let you make the best of it that you can."

He took a deep drag on the pipe for a moment, as if searching for the right words. "I noticed you at the restaurant. By that I mean you stood out enough that it attracted my attention. It happens now and again. At the restaurant, after that little...unfortunate incident brought about by your friend, I had to step in and handle the matter. I spoke with you for a little while, do you remember? I said when I left that I wondered what you would be like when you finally came out of your shell, when you finally let the TRUE Shelley Preston out to play. So, I fixed it so that you would seek me out whenever you felt that hidden part of yourself ready to come forth. And here you are." He stopped and began smoking again.

I rose to my feet. "Fixed it? How? What did you do to me? I didn't know how to get here, I just CAME here. I couldn't drive this route again if my life depended on it!" Poor choice of words. I had no idea where I was, with this strange man I didn't know. Suddenly I did fear for my life.

"STOP THAT!" he said forcefully, and I obeyed, sitting back down, calming a little, and to my surprise, growing slightly wet again. "I am not going to harm you. Believe me, Shelley Preston, if I wanted to hurt you, I could certainly have done so without dragging you all the way here to my home. As I was trying to explain, I merely want to help you explore that hidden side of you. I know some of what went through your mind on the drive here, the constant thinking about Lisa and how she dealt with the whole incident as if she had not a care in the world. I brought you here because I think you would like to share in that freedom." I had to swallow a bit. He seemed to know my very thoughts, the inner working of my mind. "Its all up to you. I will not force you to accept me, it must be your own choice. But you don't have to accept now. There is still much more you should know first.

"You asked, 'Who are you?'" He smiled, that same evil smile he had flashed in the restaurant. "I suppose I could simply say I am Dr. Jonothan Darke and go on to the next question. But you asked, so I will be honest." He blew out a ring of smoke, which drifted my way, making my eyes water. I blinked, and for a moment I thought I saw his eyes glow strangely with a light of their own. Then it was gone. I shook my head to clear it. Most likely just a trick of the firelight.

"My name is...hmmm...it has been so long since I even thought of myself by that name that I have forgotten it. But the name that best describes me, the name that I earned in my Ascension Dance, is Shadowdarke. 'Childe of darkness, childe of luminus, childe of bothe, childe of either...born to a world of human, and Other, belonging to bothe, to none, to neither.' That best describes me." Pause. "There are Those Among Us that are not human, not men or women as you know it." Another pause. "Suffice it to say, They have powers, the likes of which you cannot imagine, the type of power that could drive you mad in terror if you perhaps understood it completely." Long pause. "I have this power also. My father was one of Them, and my mother a human. So I guess that would make me a mixed breed of sorts. Both my parents were Gifted, however, my mother too, and thus I have my own unique powers." He paused once again, and then blinked. The spell was broken, and the scenes of his early life vanished. We were back in the study again. "I think that answers that and the next two questions as well."

"It doesn't even BEGIN to answer my questions!" I blurt out. "Who are these mysterious people? Where did they come from? What do they want? Where do their powers come from? What---"

He held up a hand, and my words and thoughts froze instantly, as if someone had pulled the plug. "Enough. To know everything about my kind would take a lifetime...and you do not have long enough to learn. Suffice it to say, many of Them, like myself, entrench themselves in the world of men, content to simply live out our lives. Some of Them lust for power and control, and in several countries they are the unknown rulers that control everything. They attack each other, killing Themselves off, trying to rule it all. But I've spent my life content with what I have, seeking only to keep it, not to expand. I watch, I hide, I live. Always in the background, like my namesake." He lowered his hand again and my mouth and my brain unfroze. "As for your unspoken question about Lisa and Mary, and my other little ones. Yes, they are my slaves, and I use my powers over them to some degree. But I love and care for them all, they are basically their own persons, except they accept me as their Master. If necessary, I could make any of them into a mindless puppet, but why rob them of their individuality, when that is what makes them so special and so attractive in the first place? They serve me of their own free will, and I use my Gift only to enhance their pleasure, and their servitude."

I was intrigued, but mostly I was scared. On the one hand it sounded crazy: special people, aliens, some unknown race of super beings, living secretly among us on the earth. It was the plot for a science fiction novel! Yet, how else could you explain all the weird things going on tonight? He could be a very good hypnotist---after all he was a doctor of some kind! Still, it seemed impossible to hypnotize EVERYONE in the place with just a glance, no matter how good you are. And it would explain why Jenkins didn't seem to remember anything out of the ordinary happening, as well as Mrs. Printon's unexpected humanity towards her estranged husband. "Did you do something to the two people---"

"Yes," he answered before I had even fully asked. "That woman needed a light attitude adjustment, and I was more than happy to oblige her. As for your friend, everyone that witnessed that little incident forgot about it, noticing nothing at all out of the ordinary. Except you, of course. And you can go ahead and ask your next question as well, even though it isn't exactly a flattering one, considering everything I have told you thus far already."

He was stealing the thoughts from my head again, I realized. "Why do you even bother to have me ASK when you already know the answers?" I asked angrily.

Dr. Darke took a long drag on his pipe, then set it back on the stand where he had picked it up. "In that case, why ask anything at all? I can see the art of conversation is wasted on you somewhat." He let out a dry chuckle which annoyed me, although I had to admit he WAS right. What use talking at all, if you knew everything a person was thinking at a glance? I thought for a moment on what it must be like to be him, to have such power over everyone around you. He glanced at me sidelong, as if he knew what I contemplated, but remained silent. He had a solid confidence about himself, a sense of knowing what to do or say in any situation. He was utterly in control, I saw, and he knew how to make the best use of it. But then I thought on everything else, living for so many lifetimes, never ageing, never growing old...watching those around you grow old and die. An old song from Queen sprang up in my head, "Who Wants To Live Forever?" and it so seemed to fit what I somehow sensed in him. Despite being able to have virtually any woman in the world at his beckoned call, he was lonely. Then, it hit me, his words earlier, about wanting to show me the same 'freedom' as his other slaves...but only by my own free will. He wanted companions, not mindless puppets. It was touching, in an odd sort of way.

"I think I understand what you wanted from me," I said slowly, trying to let the lump in my throat pass. "But I don't think I can simply give up my life and my control to you, just because you want me to. I've put my whole life into my career. I haven't got time for love or a relationship, or any of that. I have a job that I love, and people that look up to me, that respect me, and I'm not willing to give it all up."

"Yet you are here," Dr. Darke said, leaning forward a bit in his chair, looking deep into my eyes. It was unnerving, considering his powers. "The simple suggestion I gave you is that you would come to me only when you were truly ready and willing to delve into that hidden side of yourself, to release that repressed sexuality inside you. Do you think there can be change without sacrifice? You will have to give up much to gain more. So decide now, what you will do, what you want."

It was so unfair, to make me choose right now. This was the rest of my life we were talking about here! And I was torn two ways. He was exciting, and dark and handsome and mysterious. He was powerful. and that power drew me like a moth to a flame. The image of that woman...Lisa? back at the restaurant, flickered in my mind again, and I let out a soft moan of pleasure. How I wanted that to be me...but the price for that kind of freedom was ironically enough, my own enslavement. I wanted to have my cake and eat it to, I realized. I wanted to submit to his power, to be his slave, and have him command and raise such feelings in me, yet I didn't want to give up my old safe comfortable life. It was all just too much.

Dr, Jonothan Darke rose from his chair, and stepped in front of me, glancing down on me with a look of sympathy and love, but also sternness. "You've had time to think," he said softly.

"Choose now."

And I did.

Story: Shadowdarke--- Darke Pleasures

by J. Darksong

>>>END.