She narrowed her eyes for a split second. “You don’t think you do…interesting.”

I waited for her to explain, but she said, “We’ll save that for later. It’s your question.”

I needed to know who I was dealing with, so I took a risk. “Have you ever had sex with a client? Even if it was outside of work. Must be a job hazard even if you can’t do it at work.”

I expected her to act offended or scold me for asking something inappropriate, but her eyebrow twitched as though I’d just done something interesting…which gave me the feeling I might be about to get more than I bargained for.

“No. I don’t do that with anyone.”

I tried to figure out whether she meant what it sounded like she meant. “Do what? Have sex?”

“I don’t have p in v intercourse in the way you meant by that question.”

“What? Why not?”

“Ah-ah-ah. It’s not your turn to ask another question.” She seemed to be enjoying herself now.

“Oh come on, you’re probably going to waste it anyway. What do you wanna know now? My shoe size?”

“Not especially.” She smiled contemptuously. I hadn’t even meant it that way, but I was fine with her having no interest in my dick. I’d be scared of what she’d do to him anyway.

She pinned me with her arresting eye contact. “What scares you, Mr. Chase?”

Part of me wanted to give her a teasing answer rather than exposing a vulnerability, but you get what you give.

I took a deep breath. “Losing touch with who I am and where I came from. I’ve seen it happen too many times. Chill guys who spend too many years surrounded by yes-men, having people cater to their every whim…they become assholes who buy into their own marketing machine. The worst part is, they have no idea it’s happened. They slip into this mindset that they’re genuinely more important than everyone else or they deserve special treatment and forget how the world really works for most people. I’m scared of it happening, but it seemed inevitable if I didn’t challenge myself.”

She watched me with eyes that missed nothing. “Surely, even being self-aware enough to have that fear would preclude it from happening…”

“You’d be surprised. Fame is quite a drug. Okay, back to me—Why don’t you have ‘intercourse’?” I made air quotes.

“In my job, there’s…a required level of intimacy that shifts your sense of normal. Even outside of work, in my world, sexual acts aren’t a big deal. Nothing is taboo. Very little is sacred. So early on, I decided I would hold something back. In the five or so years I’ve been in the scene, I haven’t let anyone fuck me like that—girl, guy, or enby—in or out of the dungeon.”

I hadn’t expected her to give me such a vulnerable answer.

“Five years.” I gave a low whistle.

She smirked. “Some dude repeatedly ramming his dick in and out, thinking he just has to do it fast and hard enough, doesn’t get me off. Traditional sex is overrated.”