Page 18 of The Startup (The Erotes Circle #2)
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“Vi, Emma, if you could hang back with me for a few after this, please.” Kim looked at me as the rest of the team dispersed after the Thursday morning meeting.
Kim talking to me and Emma on our own wasn’t that notable, since Kim hadn’t seemed to stop talking to me since I started here, but as the room cleared out, I noticed the lingering glances from the other people in the office. In the past few weeks, a whole lot of people seemed to be concerned the two of us were getting preferential treatment, even if they wouldn’t come out and say it. But that kind of thing is something the old Vi would have worried about. This Vi, the me right now, I didn’t care about preferential treatment…I’d earned that preference. If others saw me being Kim’s favorite as an advantage, fuck them, of course it was, and I would use it to take it as far as I could.
“Why do you two look like shit?” Kim said, looking back between Emma and me.
Well, ok, this new Vi also maybe needed to learn some humility.
“What?” I said .
“You’re wearing the same clothes you wore yesterday…” something Kim, I knew, would pick up on, “and you look like you both got about two hours of sleep…between the two of you.”
Even after things calmed down with Wendy and Brenda last night, we still stayed up for a while just talking and having a wonderful time. It was irresponsible, sure, but I think I’ve provided ample evidence that I’m a huge fan of enjoyable irresponsibility. That being said, our nocturnal hobbies did pretty often affect our ability to look anywhere near chipper and bright-eyed the next day.
“It was just a…long night. Nothing we won’t recover from, and I swear on my honor all my sprint items will be done.”
“Vi…you and honor have a very tenuous relationship,” Kim smirked, “but I’m more concerned about the, umm…bruises on Emma’s neck and shoulders?”
Oh, fuck. This was always awkward to explain to someone how you or your partner, who were in a very loving and compassionate relationship, would sometimes end up with mysterious and occasionally dire looking bruises or welts because of the intensity of your hobbies. Industrial-grade foundation and concealer did a great job, and most of the time we made sure to be careful to not leave marks in any place that would be easily visible…or to at least leave marks there when we knew we’d have plenty of time for them to heal.
But, sometimes the heat of the moment got to you…imagine that, not thinking about keeping up appearances when a phenomenal sneering domme wanted to put you in a collar to rearrange your fucking brains so much you’d be thanking her for weeks. So, things happened, marks showed. And the awkward explanations followed.
“Just, uh…I was carrying a box up the stairs on my shoulder, it took a tumble…” Emma said, trying to make herself look small. For as enthusiastic as my girlfriend was about sex, she got really nervous when someone outside of our particular world got a glimpse in and started asking questions.
“Emma, that wouldn’t have made a bruise all the way around your neck…” Kim said, leaning in towards us.
The amount of concern on Kim’s face and the way she seemed to keep her focus solely on my girlfriend made me realize Kim was going to the worst possible conclusion to the line of questioning. This was another horror of being in a loving BDSM relationship…it wasn’t most people’s first thought that any physical marks and damage taking place between partners would be consensual or even invited. To be fair, it shouldn’t ever be someone’s first thought, and I guess in some way I was really assured that Kim jumped to empathy and protection so quickly, even if it meant she would be protecting Emma from me.
There was no way out of this other than through, so I decided Kim needed to hear the whole thing…well, most of the thing. I mean, if she wanted to hear more …
“Kim, I’m going to be honest with you, because I think you’re thinking some things appear to indicate something that they don’t…”
Kim turned toward me, her face solemn and serious. “Yes, Vi?”
“Emma’s bruises are from a collar. A BDSM collar that our friend Brenda had on her last night.”
“Oh…” Kim’s demeanor softened and was replaced by confusion. “That…” she closed her eyes and shook her head a bit, as if she was reforming her entire conception of the awful things she was thinking about us, about me. “I guess, for you two, maybe I should have gone there first.”
“We’re not really, umm…” Emma stammered.
“Em, it’s alright, Kim knows how we met already, she just doesn’t know the…rest of everything.”
“Oh, ok.” Emma smiled, now also seeming to reframe her perception of how she could behave at work. The energies I was stirring in both of thes e women was…honestly probably downright dangerous, but fun as hell.
“I guess if you are OK with me being upfront, Kim, then yes, Emma and I do a lot of BDSM play, including last night, which didn’t start off as it but definitely ended up that way.”
“BDSM, like, whips, chains, all that?”
“OK, chains are…let me just…there are very limited uses for chains in BDSM and it’s kind of stupid that they get lumped in with the safer things people seem to know about. Chains suck, way too many pinch points unless you’re using them as a leash.” Emma said, lighting up, now not afraid to let her inner sex nerd fly.
“Oh, well…I didn’t mean to offend.” Kim said.
“It’s just…a leather strap can hold someone’s legs open a lot safer than a chain could. Too many pinch points.” Emma repeated, and since I knew when she started stimming, repeating things she needed to make sure everyone knew, she was going to start to dig into things, I decided to intervene and soften things.
“Kim, I think it’s good to remember that Emma devotes this level of detail and consideration to her actual job, too. She just really, really loves sex.”
“And S&M?”
“No.” Emma said, “S&M are subsets of BDSM, but each letter has importance and multiple me?—“
I put my hand on Emma’s to calm her down, sensing she would have us here for the rest of the day if unimpeded. “—Emma, darling, my love…Kim is learning, and she might make mistakes in terminology, and it’s OK.”
Emma laughed a little, seeming to catch herself and how passionate she was getting. I never wanted to block any of Emma’s passions, but as her girlfriend, I felt sometimes it was my responsibility to at least temper them. “Umm, yeah, sorry, just…I mean, I am an expert on it, so… ”
“And I’m sure if Kim wants to hear more about BDSM, and how we do it, she can ask and we can answer…maybe some time when we’re not in a conference room where a microphone might still by chance be on.” I looked at Kim.
“I…would like to hear more about it…” Kim said, tapping her finger to her lip. She had a determined and curious look on her face that I’d only seen a few times before, and the revelation of it made me think that the little fantasy I’d shared with Emma wasn’t as farfetched as I thought it was, and the glimpse of nipple play we’d shared in the dressing room wasn’t just a momentary lapse of reason. “Maybe I’d like to hear about it, like…tonight? Over dinner?”
“I think we could arrange that…” I looked over at Emma, trading subconscious explosions of glitter and confetti that we seemed to be reeling Kim in.