*Kane’s POV*

I woke to the sound of a bullfrog croaking in my ear and the sunlight beaming directly into my eyes. To my surprise, I saw a very asleep Alias with her mouth wide open, snoring loud enough to wake up the entire building. I held back a chuckle as I listened to the extremely loud sound coming from the extremely tiny woman beside me. I carefully slipped my arm from underneath her head and replaced it with a pillow. Alias was a hard sleeper, she didn’t even budge. I took a moment to really look at her and take in the sight of her.

Her auburn curls had mostly fallen into loose waves with one strand falling gently over the side of her face. She had tucked her hands into her chest and buried her face into the pillow I placed under her head. Her knees were curled up almost her chest as if she were cold. I ran into the bedroom to grab a throw blanket, which I carefully placed over her. Instinctively, she snuggled into it, bringing the top of the blanket up to her nose before beginning to snore again. She was truly beautiful.

I decided I had stared at her sleeping long enough that it could almost be considered creepy, so I went over to the kitchen to make omelets for us. My mind wondered to last nights events.

When Alias texted me, she asked how quickly Damion could get to the Tavern to pick her up. My entire body told me she was in some sort of danger. I knew Alias didn’t want to see me, but I couldn’t not show up. Honestly, I’m glad I did. I knew the owner of the bar quite well, so it took one phone call to have her ex banned from the bar and removed from the premises immediately.

After Alias ran out, Ashton said somethings that I decided to keep to myself. I thought about what he said to me before security came to escort him out.

“She’s a master liar, dude. She will trick you into everything she wants and then leave you looking stupid. Ask yourself why would a pretty girl like that not be in a relationship all this time? She will lead you on and never commit to you. How well do you really know Alias Star?”

Truth is, not that well. I shrugged off his words last night because my only concern was making sure she was safe and alright. After hearing her side of the story, I feel like he was just trying to manipulate me into thinking she was actually the bad person. However, I was curious as to why she hadn’t been in a relationship in the past few years since. I assumed the trauma from her relationship with him had steered her away from the dating scene. It was bugging me though as I realized truthfully I didn’t know anything about her aside from her career. I wondered about her hometown, her family, and how she ended up here in the city. I decided I would ask her about herself over breakfast.

As I finished up the omelets, I decided to reach out to one of the Doms I know from the club, Zack, who teaches some beginner subs, for some advice. He sent over a list of interests and limits which would be perfect for Alias to be able to better tell me what she would like to try and what she would never like to try. I was truthfully nervous. I had played with inexperienced subs, but I had never taught someone from the ground up. I was concerned about me potentially shaping her into the sub I want- rather than the sub she really is. Luckily, Zack agreed to help, so I felt a little relief knowing I at least had someone to reach out to for advice. I quit playing with subs a little over a year ago after my last one and I ended things the way we did. I had almost accepted I would be asexual the remainder of my life, but I couldn’t hold back my excitement at the thought of being a Dom again. Not just any Dom either, Alias’s Dom.

I let the omelets cool while I ran into my study to print out the list. We could go over it after breakfast, but I wanted to have a chance to ask Alias questions about herself. I made two copies of the list, as I intended to fill one out myself so that she could see my interests as well. I grabbed up the papers and headed back to the kitchen. Alias had woken up and was sitting up stretching when she turned to look at me.

“Good morning,” she smiled. Her hair was a mess, but she didn’t seem to mind.

“Morning, coffee and an omelet?” I asked, smiling back at her.

“Absolutely, I could definitely get used to having a personal chef,” she joked as she walked over toward the kitchen. She jumped up on the counter and grabbed up the plate before funneling the omelet into her mouth in one breath.

“Alias, I have a dining table,” I teased her, but I had to admit I enjoyed watching her shove the breakfast I made into her mouth while sitting in my countertop.

“Sworry!” She yelled through her mouthful of food. I chuckled at her and began eating my own meal. She picked up the coffee mug with both hands as if it were the most sacred juice she had ever drank. She gulped loudly, nearly finishing the cup in a few sips.

“You have impeccable table manners,” I continued to tease her.

“I literally have a hangover from hell and would likely have died right here if I didn’t receive sustenance immediately,” she narrowed her eyes in a joking manner causing me to laugh.

“Judgement Free zone here,” I chuckled.

“What’s that?” Her eyes pointed to the papers laying face down beside me.

“A list, where are you from?” I asked.

“Umm… Not here,” She seemed caught off guard by my question.

“Where?” I pushed.

“Alabama,” She rolled her eyes.

“Wow, I definitely wouldn’t have taken you for a southern girl. No wonder you can ride a horse,” I smirked. I was actually surprised.

“Yeah, yeah, I don’t advertise it,” she rubbed her finger around the rim of her mug.

“You don’t like it?” I raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t agree with a lot of things there,” she sighed, “Why do you want to know?”

“I just don’t know much about you is all,” I said innocently.

“What do you want to know?” She furrowed her eyebrows as if no one asked her about herself before.

“Anything you want to tell me. Your family? Ever had any pets? Best childhood memory? Your deepest darkest secret?” I was halfway joking about the last part.

“My mom is my best friend, she’s back home in Alabama. My dad is essentially nonexistent. My older brother passed away when I was a teenager. I had all kinds of animals growing up. My only opportunity back home was to work in a desk job, be a doctor, or work in a factory. I fell in Love with the world outside of my small town, so I left the first chance I had. I dropped out of college my freshman year. Partied and traveled. I went back for my Bachelor’s in Marketing and graduated college here in the city where I landed a corporate job as an entry level marketer. I told you the rest of that story last night. I tried working for multiple companies, but didn’t like anyone’s style of management. I met Sarah in a bar one night, and she convinced me I could run my own company, so we bought a tiny office on the outskirts of town and built everything from the ground up. She may be my assistant on paper, but she’s a co-owner of the company. Some odd years went by and I found myself at the top of my field. Now, I’m sitting on a counter in a penthouse with one of the wealthiest CEO’s in the city eating omelets and having coffee. There’s my life,” she said all in one breath, “Oh and my favorite childhood memory is probably going to the water park, I only ever went once and had the time of my life- at least from what I remember.”

I tried to process the enormous amount of information she laid on me. I figured there were many, many details she left out, but I realized one thing. Alias isn’t as strong as she is by chance, she was made to be strong her entire life. Unlike myself, she had no opportunities handed to her. She left everything she knew to create the life she wanted. I had a newfound respect for her.

“Well, you get more interesting by the second,” I smiled as I took our plates and put them into the sink.

“Hardly,” she scoffed, “Now about the lists? What are those?”

I guess now was as good time as any to go through them, so I reached my hand out to help her down from the counter. She took it and hopped down. I grabbed up the papers and led her back over to the sofa. I scooted the coffee table towards us so that I could lay the papers down side by side. By her reaction, I assumed she started reading before I could explain.

“What the fuck is all this?! Wax play? Impact play? Humiliation? Kane!” She had her eyebrows furrowed deeply and an almost bewildered look on her face.

“Rule number one, you cannot participate in this lifestyle if you kink shame, at least not with me. You can decide what’s not for you, but you cannot down someone else’s kink,” I explained. Especially going to the club, she was going to have to open her mind to a lot of things- at least to seeing those things.

“I’m not shaming, but people find pleasure in some of this? Seriously?” She asked in shock.

“You’re really border-lining shaming, Alias, but yes people find pleasure in all sorts of things. The best part of the BDSM community, to me anyway, is the unspoken, yet understood concept of being judgement Free no matter how radical something might be,” I explained. She nodded as if she understood, and I truly hoped she did.

“Now, before you decide something isn’t for you, ask me about it. I want you to go through the list and check what interests you. Put an X on anything that you absolutely would not want to try any time soon. Leave blank the things you might be open too, and we will go back to discuss them,” I smiled lightly as I explained.

“I have questions,” Alias stated bashfully.

“Of course you do, ask them,” I reassured her. I wanted her to be comfortable asking me anything.

“What if I change my mind about an interest?” She asked hesitantly.

“Then you tell me, communication is the most important aspect of any BDSM relationship. I can’t read your mind, so you have to speak up about how you feel,” I explained.

“What if you did something I didn’t like?”

“You have a safe word, firstly. But again, communicate with me about how you feel about anything- positive or negative.”

“What if you’re not interested in the things I am?” She lowered her head when she asked.

“Well, out of respect for my boundaries and yours, I would help you find another Dom. Never conform to fit someone else’s kinks.”

“You’d just hand me off like a used toy?” She seemed to turn a bit sad.

“No, that’s what this list is for. I would be able to gauge whether or not we would be a good match based on your answers. I would also never just hand you off lightly, Alias,” I placed my hand on hers and gave it a gentle squeeze to reassure her.

She seemed satisfied with asking questions and turned back to her checklist. I decided to do mine at the same time so we could compare answers at the end. Apart of me hoped she would check boxes that matched mine, but I reminded myself that this isn’t about me. This is about helping her discover apart of herself she has never known. That alone is enough to convince me to make whatever choice necessary that would be in her best interest. Even if it meant finding another Dom for her, as much as I truly didn’t want too.

She seemed to know what most things were, but asked occasional questions as we went down the lists. There was one thing; however, that caused her to stop, lay her pen down, and cross her arms as she stared at the paper.

“What is it, Alias?” I asked curiously.

“Sharing?” She furrowed her brows.

“Yes, it’s extremely common,” I wasn’t sure exactly what she was asking.

“So I could do things with someone else, and it would be okay?” She had a look of distaste on her face.

“Sharing has to be agreed upon by all parties involved to work. Some people prefer multiple partners, or how one person is in scene verses the other. It’s not so much based on emotion. Especially with subs, the Dom knows that her loyalty lies with him, so he doesn’t mind allowing her to please someone else,” I explained.

“And you share?” She asked quietly.

“I have,” I replied.

“Oh,” she picked her pen back up.

“Oh, what?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I just didn’t take you for the type to share,” she explained.

“Like I said, the Dom knows his subs loyalty is his,” I stated.

“Mm,” she mumbled as she went back to the list.

“I’m not sure if I mentioned, but communication is the most important part of this entire agreement,” I hinted at her as I noticed her demeanor change.

“I wouldn’t like that,” she said bitterly, shooting me a sideways glance.

“I did say all parties would have to agree, Alias, didn’t I?” I asked. She nodded slightly in agreement. “Also, just because I have, doesn’t mean I would again.”

“I thought you said not to conform your kinks to fit someone else’s,” she replied.

“I’m not, and I didn’t then. Back then, I enjoyed sharing because I had no subs who I wanted pursue anything more than play with. With you, I wouldn’t want to share,” I explained.

“Because I’m inexperienced, right?” She rolled her eyes.

“No. Because I wouldn’t want to share you, Alias,” I stated. Truth is, I really wouldn’t. Yes, I wouldn’t because she is inexperienced, but also because I quite frankly think I would become jealous. I won’t tell her that part though.

She smiled and blushed lightly as she finished up with her list. I had finished mine quite quickly, so I picked hers up to compare. She snatched mine straight out of my hand before I could even get a good glance. I shot her a sideways look, but she scooted right up next to me and held mine up beside hers. I tried to hide a smile, but the corners of my lips turned up at her closeness and her eagerness.

To my surprise, she checked more boxes than blindfolds and bondage. The wax play that seemed so unenjoyable before now had a giant check beside it indicating she would like to try it. She put an X on some of the kinks such as golden showers, blood play, and electro-stimulation, which wasn’t all that surprising. Honestly, those aren’t any of my kinks anyway. I was surprised to see she didn’t put exhibitionism as a hard limit, but that was definitely a more expert level kink, so we wouldn’t be trying that one anytime soon. I was more surprised that she left 24/7 blank, indicating she might eventually be interested in it. She left all Anal, impact play, and nipple play blank, which definitely peaked my interest. For the most part, our kinks aligned enough to consider us as a good match.

“Should I have checked more boxes?” She asked nervously.

“Absolutely not, you’re just getting started. You can’t possibly know what you’d actually like until you have a chance to try it,” I smiled at her. She seemed to relax a bit as we started to talk through all the things she seemed to be interested in. After a decently long discussion, we both felt comfortable enough to start making the terms of our agreement.

“I don’t want rules!” She crossed her arms and let out a huff.

I chuckled at her, “There has to be rules for this to work, but you get to come up with your own.”

She seemed to like that idea as she immediately began spitting out rules, and I stifled back my laughter as she started.

“Absolutely nobody at work can know,” she said.

“Agreed,” I chuckled lightly. That was obvious, but I’m glad she felt the same.

“You can’t act like we are anything more than coworkers and you definitely can’t give me special treatment at work,” she continued.

“Absolutely,” I agreed again.

“My most important rule, please don’t suffocate me,” her voice cracked at the end.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked genuinely.

“Don’t break into my apartment when I don’t answer my phone kinda thing…” she trailed off. “Don’t tell me what time to be home or what to wear or who to hang out with or-..”

“Alias, I have no interest in dictating your life. I’m only interested in teaching you and helping you discover this side of yourself,” I cut her off.

“But you checked 24/7?” she asked, eyeing the checklists.

“Yes, I checked all of my interests. Eventually, I would like a sub who I develop a relationship with and can in time have a 24/7 power exchange relationship. I wouldn’t force that on you by any means. It’s simply something I’d like again at some point in my life.”

“Again?” She asked. My heart stopped when I realized what I had said. I tried to bite back the anger that rose inside of me as I recalled my previous relationship.

I sighed deeply. I’d spare her the details, but I did just iterate how important communication is, so I decided to give her a little bit of information about it.

“I had one once before, it didn’t work out. It’s not an easy thing to do. It didn’t end well,” I tried to make it as short as possible.

“Tell me about it sometime?” She asked compassionately. I was surprised since Alias usually would pester me until I told her. I appreciated her allowing me to exclude the details.

“Sometime,” I tried smiling, but it hurt every time I thought about my previous relationship. “Now, you must pick out a safe word. What would you like it to be?”

She thought hard for a moment, but I could tell a lightbulb went of in her head as her expression changed to excitement.

“Blue! Like the sky on a cloudless, summer day,” she beamed at me.

“That’s a bit long don’t you think?” I laughed, realizing she was referring to her favorite shade of blue.

“Obviously, just blue,” she playfully rolled her eyes.

“Blue, then. You only say it when you absolutely need or want to stop. No matter what, never say it out of context and never say it for the wrong reasons. Understood?” I replied.

“Yes, Sir,” she shot me a wicked smirk and I could have melted. It was the first time she called me Sir since she learned the true meaning behind it. I had almost forgotten how much I enjoyed hearing her say it.

“Good girl,” I smirked back at her as I reached up to push a strand of hair from her face. Instinctively, she leaned into my hand, smiling proudly at my praise. Such a small form of praise made her that happy, I knew immediately she was going to be a good sub. Now, the pressure was on me to be a good teacher.

“What are we doing today?” She perked up like a child eager to go to the park.

“What do you want to do?” I asked. I hadn’t considered she’d want to spend the day with me.

“Could we hang out with Sarah? Maybe grab lunch? You don’t have too…” She trailed off.

“I’d Love too, my choice on the restaurant though,” I smirked.

She started to pout but decided to agree. “Fine, but nothing fancy,” she requested.

“Either of you picky eaters?” I inquired. I had a restaurant in mind, but I wasn’t sure if Alias or Sarah had particular tastes.

“We are food addicts, and we eat anything,” she joked causing us both to erupt into laughter.

“I’ll call for the reservation while you call Sarah. Mind if Damion joins?” I stood up, pulling my phone from my pocket.

“Definitely invite Damion!” Alias yelled as I walked over to the kitchen to call in our reservation.

Once I hung the phone up, I noticed Alias was standing in front of me in utter panic.

“What is it?” I asked, concerned by her sudden shift in mood.

“Kane, all my stuff is in my apartment. Everything I need,” she shook her head as she stared out the ground.

“We will go in and get it, Alias. All of us, don’t worry,” I walked around the island and wrapped her in my arms.

She huffed loudly into my chest before relaxing her body and accepting my embrace. I could only imagine how she felt, not being able to go home and get the things you need without looking over your shoulder. I lightly rubbed her back until she pulled away from me.

“I’m not this frightened little girl. I’m not a damsel in distress. I can go to my own damn apartment myself, but I just don’t want to deal with the what if’s. Please don’t think I’m weak,” she looked up with me with sadness in her eyes.