Forty-eight hours felt like forty-eight years.
I'd tried everything to distract myself. Read three books. Attempted meditation—badly. Walked the Outer Walk until my legs ached. Analyzed my response to Session One with the detachment I'd perfected over a decade of practice.
None of it worked.
Because my body remembered.
The leather cuffs. The blindfold. Meric's hands on me, deliberate and devastating. The way he'd brought me so close to climax I'd begged—actually begged—and then stopped completely.
And the forty-eight hours of frustration that had followed.
But now it was Day 6. Eight PM. And I was standing outside the Subterranean Sessions Chamber again, pulse hammering, knowing that tonight would be different.
Theme: Exposure.
No blindfold. Which meant I'd see him touching me.
Verbalize desires. Which meant I'd have to tell him exactly what I wanted.
And according to the Protocol, if I performed adequately—if I surrendered deeply enough—I might actually be allowed to climax.
The thought alone made my breath quicken.
I opened the door.
Meric stood beside the platform, dressed entirely in black as always. But this time, I noticed details I'd missed before. The way his sleeves were rolled to his forearms exposed the tendons and veins beneath pale skin. The precise way his dark hair was swept back. The controlled stillness of his posture—a man who'd mastered every muscle, every micro-expression.
He looked up as I entered, and something flickered across his face. Too fast to name. Then his expression settled into that careful neutrality I was beginning to recognize as armor.
"Aethelreda," he said. "Close the door."
I did, and the soft click of the latch felt like a starting gun.
"Come here."
I crossed the space between us. The chamber felt warmer than last time, or maybe that was just my body responding to proximity. To memory. To the anticipation coiling tight in my chest.
"Sit," he said, gesturing to the platform.
I sat, dangling my legs off the edge, and forced myself to meet his eyes. Pale gray. Watchful. Observant in ways that made me feel transparent.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Nervous," I replied.
"Why?" He asked as he tilted his head slightly.
"Because last time, I couldn't see you. This time, I can't hide."
"Good." He moved closer, stopping just within arm's reach. "That's the point of tonight. Session One established your baseline under sensory deprivation. Session Two tests your capacity for exposure. You'll be visually present for everything that happens. No blindfold. No psychological distance."
My throat tightened. "I read the Guidelines."
"Then you know what I'm going to ask you to do."
"Verbalize my desires."
"Yes." His voice was quiet, controlled. "Before I touch you, you're going to tell me exactly what you want. Not in euphemisms. Not in deflections. Explicit language. Can you do that?"
I hesitated. "I don't know."
"That's honest." He stepped back slightly, creating space. "Before we begin, I need your consent for tonight's protocol. You'll be physically unrestrained but psychologically bound by commands. I'll touch you sexually. I'll bring you to climax if you earn it. Do you consent?"
"Yes," I answered a bit nervously.
"Say it fully." He pressed.
I took a breath. "I consent to you touching me sexually. To follow your commands. To verbalize what I want even though it terrifies me."
"Why does it terrify you?" Meric prompted.
"Because saying it out loud makes it real."
"And you're afraid of what's real," he observed.
"Yes."
"I know." His expression softened almost imperceptibly. "But you're here anyway. Which means some part of you is ready."
He pulled something from his pocket—not restraints this time, but a small remote. He pressed a button, and the lighting in the chamber dimmed further. Not dark. Just low enough to feel intimate. Enclosed.
"Stand up," he said.
I stood.
"I'm going to ask you to undress. Completely. While I remain clothed. Do you understand why?"
"Power imbalance," I said quietly. "Vulnerability differential."
"Exactly." He moved to the chair in the corner—the same one we'd used for processing after Session One—and sat, leaning back with controlled ease. "Undress. Slowly. And while you do, I want you to tell me what you thought about during the Integration Period."
Oh God.
My hands trembled as I reached for the hem of my shirt.
"I thought about Session One," I said.
"Be specific." He pressed.
I pulled the shirt over my head, dropping it on the platform. I was wearing a simple black bra underneath. Nothing provocative. But standing here, half-undressed while he remained fully clothed, I felt more exposed than I'd felt blindfolded.
"I thought about your hands on me," I continued, forcing the words out. "The way you touched me through my clothes. The pressure. The control."
"What else?" He said softly.
I unhooked my bra, letting it fall. The cool air hit my skin, and my nipples tightened immediately. I couldn't look at him. Couldn't see his reaction.
"I thought about how close you brought me to orgasm before stopping."
"And how did that make you feel?"
"Frustrated. Angry." I unbuttoned my leggings, pushing them down. "Desperate."
"Desperate for what?"
I stepped out of the leggings, standing in only my underwear now. My entire body was flushed, heart pounding so hard I could hear it.
"Desperate for you to touch me again," I whispered.
"Louder."
"Desperate for you to touch me again," I said, voice shaking.
"Better. Take off the rest."
I hooked my thumbs in the waistband of my underwear and pushed them down, stepping out of them completely.
And then I was naked.
Entirely, utterly naked.
While Meric sat five feet away, fully clothed, watching me with those pale gray eyes that cataloged every tremor, every flush, every visible sign of my arousal.
"Look at me," he commanded.
It was difficult, but I managed to force my gaze up.
"You're beautiful," he said quietly. It wasn't flirtation. It was an observation. But the word still landed like a touch. "Now tell me what you want me to do to you."
My breath caught. "I—"
"Explicit language, Aethelreda. Tell me exactly what you fantasized about during the Integration Period."
I closed my eyes.
"Eyes open," he said firmly. "You don't get to hide."
I opened them, meeting his gaze, and felt something crack inside me. This was it. The moment I stopped managing, analyzing, and controlling. The moment I just... admitted.
"I want you to touch me the way you did in Session One," I said. "But I want to see your hands on me. I want to watch you make me come apart."
"Where do you want me to touch you?"
"Everywhere."
"That's not specific enough."
Heat crawled up my neck, across my chest. "I want your hands between my legs. Inside me. I want you to make me beg again. And this time, I want you to let me climax."
Something shifted in his expression—so subtle I almost missed it. Approval, maybe. Or hunger carefully restrained.