Shades of Sepia

XV

Onika Tanya Maraj
December 7th
Aspen, Colorado

These men and women were like-minded people that I never expected. I thought I would feel less comfortable, but I genuinely felt like this community was mine. These were my peers.

There were only four of us that stayed, but there was a revolving door of submissives. They would introduce themselves to me, have a bit of conversation, and join their counterparts again. Everyone was so nice and respectful towards me.

"We heard it's your birthday," Amber called out to me.

She was gorgeous with blonde highlights and dark skin that looked so supple that I wanted to break a rule and touch her. She was obviously well taken care of. It looked like she rarely ever had to lift a finger of her own.

I nodded at her, "It's tomorrow."

"That's usually when we get new members."

"Birthdays?"

Daniel chimed in, "If you don't wanna leave by your birthday, you'll find a community here."

"What if you wanna leave after?"

"Do you?" Erica asked.

"No, just curious."

"That'd be fine if someone wants to leave. You would never know where to even go."

"None of you know where to go?"

"I do," Amber said, "But I've been doing this for almost a decade."

"Really? Are you and your partner in a relationship?"

"Yes. We got engaged a year ago," She held up her hand, showing off the huge emerald cut diamond ring on her finger. The band was also covered in diamonds, the smaller diamonds varying in sizes of princess cuts. It was a beautiful ring. I could only imagine how much had been spent on it.

"That's beautiful. Does that happen a lot?"

"Marriages?"

"Yeah."

"No, not at all. Usually, we get a carousel of men and women that want to be in this life but don't really know where they fit in or people that end up having horrible dominants that don't really know what they're doing."

"How do you even know as someone that doesn't know what they're doing, if your dominant doesn't know what they're doing?"

"As long as you feel safe, comfortable, and loved, you're fine."

I didn't feel used. If anything, sometimes I felt like I had all the control in our relationship. But that feeling never lasted too long. She'd get pissed and put me right back in my place. I liked that a lot. I loved that dynamic, a lot.

I looked down and saw her watching, like she hadn't taken her eyes off of me since I left her. My heart thumped through my chest, every nerve in my body lighting up and buzzing like a beehive.

I loved her for giving this community to me, for thinking of me and wanting to make me more comfortable. I loved her a lot more than she would ever understand, and if I had more, I would be able to show her that.

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles
December 7th
Aspen, Colorado

I stared up, watching Onika converse. She smiled at me before going back to it. I'd like to think she enjoyed being here and finally being able to relate to her peers. I loved it for her and hoped that she would come out of this with people that she could talk to. If she wanted to come back on a different day and meet a different set of people, I would have no problem returning with her.