Ruby’s hands curled into fists. “I don’t remember exactly when I came to my senses, I just remember this moment when I looked into his eyes, and I realized there was no love in them. I realized that if he loved me, he wouldn’t hurt me. I realized that I was just a thing to him, someone he could use for his own sick, twisted needs. So I left him.”

Yvonne took Ruby’s hand and squeezed it. “I’m so sorry he did that to you. He wasn’t a Dominant, he was an abusive, evil person. No Dominant would treat their submissive that way.”

“I know that, now. But after what he did, it made it hard for me to trust anyone with my heart, with my body, with any part of me. That side of me that craved submission was still there, but I couldn’t imagine ever submitting to anyone else again.”

Ruby looked up at Yvonne. “Not until you. Since then, you’re the first person I’ve felt able to be vulnerable with. I don’t know why, but from the moment we met, I felt like I could trust you. And now I’ve screwed everything up.”

“You haven’t screwed anything up,” Yvonne said. “I understand why you got upset tonight. I can see how what we were doing hit too close to home. I should have been more careful.”

“No, it was on me. I was distracted. I was thinking about him, about everything I went through with him.” Ruby didn’t mention that the reason her former client had been on her mind was that she was worrying about falling for a client again. “And then, when you said those words that reminded me of what he used to say, it threw me, and suddenly I couldn’t handle it. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. And thank you for opening up to me about this. I wish you’d told me sooner, but I understand that it must be difficult to talk about.”

Ruby shook her head. “That’s not why I kept this from you. It’s not that I find it hard to talk about. It’s because you’re so careful about everything we’re doing together. You take it all so seriously, and you trusted me to be honest and open with you, but I thought that if you knew the truth, you’d want to end what we were doing. You were already so reluctant to do this with me, and you were so afraid of hurting me. You said so yourself, that night when I found your playroom.” Ruby’s voice faltered. “I was afraid that if you knew about what I’d been through, you’d think I was too broken for this.”

“Ruby.” Yvonne stared at her. “How could I ever think you were broken? Sometimes you’re so perfect, I don’t know what to do with you.”

“So you don’t want to end things between us? You don’t want to stop what we’re doing?”

Yvonne was silent for a moment. “Perhaps we should take a step back.”