We locked eyes, and the moment was there. We both wanted it, but before I could do something rash, I pulled him after me down the hall and into the main room, shoving him down on a couch that faced the stage.

Ophelia was in the middle of a scene with the new sub from work who I was supposed to be mentoring this month. She seemed to be doing just fine under Ophelia’s tutelage, looking at ease on stage with all this madness happening around her.

I, on the other hand, was crawling out of my skin. Just sitting next to him was making me antsy, the warmth of his big body pulling my attention back from the stage. I wanted him beyond reason.

Ophelia had bound Styx in a harness and suspended her, and now a guy I didn’t recognize was using a toy to bring her to orgasm. It was confusing to know that if Alex hadn’t come into my life, it would likely be me up on that stage, initiating her into the marvel of suspension.

As though reading my mind, Alex asked, “What would you be doing if we weren’t together?”

I tore my eyes from the stage to look at him, seeing the same lust reflected in his expression that was burning through me like wildfire. I thought I was always so tightly in control, but I’d never had to restrain myself before. It was easy to be in control when there were very few limits. It wasn’t until I didn’t have an outlet for my pent-up lust that I became aware of how much I took my pleasure wherever I damn well pleased. If this is what it took to be in control, then I was done with it.

My own traitorous thighs rubbing together were making me feel like I might come if I so much as brushed a finger over my clit.

Alex had asked a question. I just needed to remember what it was.

“If we weren’t…together? I would most likely be up there with Styx, feeling the rush of having pushed her into subspace, coaxing that orgasm out of her. I seem to have a fetish for pushing other people to that mindless place.”

He looked straight ahead as he asked, “Do you take yourself there?”

I almost laughed at the question. I considered masturbation an essential function regardless of whether I had a partner.

“Of course.”

“What’s stopping you now?”

What was stopping me? It would be the tamest sexual act taking place in my immediate vicinity, so it wasn’t fear of judgment that was holding me back. We were currently the looky-loo weirdos who were watching the party instead of participating.

Yes, he was a client of sorts, but I didn’t pretend to be in a relationship with all of my clients and we weren’t at the dungeon, so my usual rules didn’t technically need to apply.

I couldn’t think clearly beyond my own need.

Why did it matter if I got off with him sitting next to me?