It was an unbelievable turn on.

We left that room faster than the others, as though she was ready to escape all the eyes.

Another guy dropped to his knees in the hallway in front of Elena dramatically, begging, “My lady, will you please punish me? I missed you terribly this week. I’ve been a very bad boy and Sasha didn’t do my punishment right.”

He must’ve been one of her clients. It was interesting to see that he had no shame talking about it, which was good, but the way he acted entitled to her bothered me. She wasn’t on the clock, so he was asking for a free session when he thought she was on vacation.

He kept his head bowed waiting for an answer.

“Not this evening, Brett.” She sounded warm, but hadn’t left it open to further discussion.

He looked devastated, and then angry.

“Who’s he?” The dislike was evident on his face as he looked at me. It took every ounce of self-control not to smile.

“That’s not really any of your business.” She was still being gentle but firm.

I wanted to tell him she didn’t owe him the details of her private life.

“Is he the reason I have to see someone else for a month?” He was blatantly crossing a line.

“It’ll be longer than a month if you don’t respect my boundaries,” she said in a tone that brooked no argument. Gone was her nurturing persona, replaced with a warrior queen.

“Apologies, my lady,” he said hastily. “I’ll patiently await your return.”

He bowed his head and backed away slowly.

I was here to learn about power exchange, but I was learning far more about my mysterious temporary girlfriend. She seemed to be deeply respected by this community. People didn’t respond this way because they had to. The kinds of reactions she was getting were unprompted and genuine. Within this space, she was a celebrity in her own right.

It was disconcerting to learn that the things I was feeling for her apparently weren’t special. I was just another mortal helplessly falling under her spell.

Everyone wanted something from her, but she held them all at arm’s length. What would it take to be worthy of more from her?

When we were stopped again by a couple a few steps later, I muttered, “Seriously?” I sounded like a petulant child, but I wanted to clear a path so she could just relax for five damn minutes without people pestering her.

“My lady!” a dude in a leather jester costume said. “What perfect timing. Alyssa needs a spanking. Would you do the honors?”

The way he said it and held a paddle out to her made it seem like a foregone conclusion that Elena would say yes. His adorable, giggling submissive started to make her way over to a vacant spanking bench.

Elena smiled. “I just got here and need to make the rounds, but have fun!”

Was she disappointed she had to say no? Was I holding her back?