Vow of Surrender

Chapter Four

Caedance sipped her morning coffee while she went over her schedule for the day. She didn't have much to do, especially since she was at the office late taking care of most of her tasks. All she had was a consultation in the afternoon, a few orders of invitations, and the setting up of chairs for a wedding on Saturday.

Her crew could take care of all that. It had been so long since she had a day off, and she was tempted to call in sick.

Just then, her alert went off to say someone was facetiming her. It was Samantha, her best friend from college. This was the earliest Sam had ever called.

"Hey girl. What's up?" Caedance said after answering.

"Nothing much! Just checking in on my best girl."

Sam was bubbly and upbeat as usual. Her blonde hair was curled, and she had subtle makeup with pink lipstick, mascara, and a shimmery nude eye shadow. Not as dolled up as Caedance was used to.

"You know me. Married to the job."

"So . . ., I have a question!"

"I may or may not have an answer."

"What are you doing tonight?"

"Probably prepping for the wedding tomorrow. Why?"

"They opened a new place recently. A dungeon called Paradise Found. Cheesy, I know, BUT I really want to check it out and I don't want to go by myself."

Caedance internally groaned. She hadn't been to a dungeon in almost longer than she'd last been in a relationship. She'd all but given up that lifestyle.

"I don't know . . ."

"Please? I miss going out with you. And you always owned those places. Who knows, maybe you'll find a sexy sub!"

"I'm not looking for another sub. I told you, Sam. I'm done with the D/s dynamic."

Sam sighed. "Is this about Luke? Cause it's been almost a year."

"And he was my sub for almost four. He left a bad taste in my mouth."

"Girl, I'd get that checked out."

Caedance snorted. "Perv."

"Skank. Anyway, Luke was a prick. Not all guys are like that. He was looking for a booty call who also didn't make him pay rent. Doesn't help that he was sleeping with someone else behind your back."

Caedance's chest tightened as she thought of Luke. She thought he might be the one. Everywhere they went, people told them how great they were together and how they were perfect for each other. Under the surface, Luke was not as loyal as she'd thought. It had all been a lie.

"Listen," Sam continued. "I'm not going to pressure you into dating again. I just want to have fun with you. We'll go watch a few scenes, have some drinks, then grab a bite at our favorite diner."

A small smiled formed on Caedance's lips. It did sound fun to go out with Sam again. Her friend had been the one to encourage her to come out of the kink closet and embrace who she really was. Eighteen years later, and she was back to the scared, sexually suppressed woman she had been when she first left for college.

"Even if i did go, I have nothing to wear."

Sam squealed. "YOU ARE SO COMING! Wait, don't tell me you threw out all your sexy clothes!"

"Only business casual up in this spinster's closet."

"Then we need to go shopping! And while we're at it, we'll get our hair and nails done. I'll do your makeup. It's going to be great!"