Owning Her

Chapter Nine

Author's note: My final birthday present (11/30) to myself was writing and uploading this chapter today. So enjoy!

I'm doing significant editing, so please ignore any upload notifications unless you want to read the chapters now that they're fully edited.

"It's not that I don't want to talk about my relationship with Greyson," Vivian huffed as she pushed out of the armchair into her new therapist's office and made for the pale pink bean bag in the far corner. "It's just that our relationship is unconventional, especially in a place like this." She plopped down into the suede bean-filled chair and rested her head on it. Her gaze trailed over the grey and white swirls that covered half of the pale yellow ceiling. The pattern threatened to hypnotize her.

She sat up, and her gaze landed on the old chaise lounge on which women in romance novels and television shows tended to faint during a dramatic moments. The pink and gold pattern on it reminded her of her grandmother's favorite couch.

"What do you mean by a place like this," her therapist, Dr. Elliot Webb, asked her.

"In a state so deep in the south in America, where most of the racists pushed most of the liberated slaves to live during segregation, that white people still think they're superior and that they're the minority." Vivian threw her arms over her eyes and laid back into the bean bag again. She heard Elliot's soft chuckle and could almost imagine the way the skin around his light brown eyes crinkled.

She had found this therapist through her insurance company and managed to secure an appointment three days before her birthday. When she walked into his office and found it was the size of Greyson's living room, kitchen, and bathroom, she knew she had to make this work. There was an assortment of furniture in multiple shades of yellow, grey, white, and pink. The walls were covered in children's artwork, so much so that she could barely see the soft blue color of the walls, which was the only place in the room sporting that color. She had researched the meaning of all of these colors in the first ten minutes of this session, not uttering a single word. All of the themes were scientifically proven to calm people down, and Dr. Elliot seemed to know that.

"What's so unconventional about it?" he asked.

"Because there's no romance involved, only a power exchange," Vivian replied. Her arms remained folded over her eyes, but she could hear his pen scribbling on the notepad he held.

"Do you want there to be romance?"

She huffed a sigh at the question and threw both hands up in the air, "No. Yes? I don't know." More silence was interrupted only by his pen strokes as her vision refocused from the darkness of her arms.

"Instead of romance, let's try something else. Do you want there to be more to your relationship with Greyson than just a power exchange? It doesn't have to be right now or for a while, depending on what you want. But ask yourself: Do you want more than just sex from him one day?" Elliot's voice was soothing, like rolling thunder in a storm.

"One day, I'd like there to be more to the relationship, but—" Elliot held up a hand and cut Vivian off before she could continue.

"No 'buts' right now, you've just admitted something to yourself that, from what I can tell by your body language, you've denied yourself for a long time. It would be best if you focused on that and how it affects you over this next week before our next session," Elliot said. He scribbled in his notebook some more before closing it with a quiet clap.

"Unfortunately, that's all the time we have today. Make sure to stop by the front desk on your way out to schedule your appointment for next week," he said as he pushed his lithe body out of his chair and walked to the door. He held it open for her as she climbed out of the bean bag.