“Thanks. We just had it done. Nathaniel doesn’t work from home often, but when he does, we both need our own space.”

They sat down and Abby faced her. “Tell me how it went with Cole yesterday.”

“He was different than I expected. But in a good way.” She thought back to how he’d calmed her down and rubbed her back.

“He’s a complex guy, but he has your best interests in mind. I know he probably wasn’t who you thought the group would pick.” Abby gave a little chuckle. “I know it surprised me at first, but now I honestly believe he’s the best choice.”

“You knew he wouldn’t have sex with me?” It was a bold question, and Abby seemed to be taken aback for a second—but Sasha wanted to know.

“Yes, in fact, it was that knowledge that finally convinced me to agree for him to do your retraining.”

Sasha raised an eyebrow at her.

“You have to be strong mentally before you can submit physically. Once you get the mental down, the physical will follow,” Abby explained.

“It makes sense in my head.” But damn, she’d like to have sex again. And now, with Cole saying she couldn’t orgasm without his permission, it didn’t appear like that would be happening anytime soon.

“I’ve played with Cole before in a mental scene,” Abby said, surprising her. “And from that I learned two things: one, he knows what he’s doing, and two, he knows what he’s doing.”

Sasha laughed. “What was it like, submitting to him?”

“He’s intense, you know that. So much more so than Nathaniel, and trust me, Nathaniel’s intense. But Cole’s a good man and he’s fair. I don’t think you have a thing to worry about.”

Sasha had once told Julie that she found Nathaniel too intense. Her stomach flipped over hearing Abby say Cole was even more intense than Nathaniel. Why did the thought of Cole not intimidate her as much as Nathaniel did?

“I trust you,” Sasha said. “And I really feel supported by everyone in the group.”

“I’m so glad. You said you’ll be meeting with Cole on Wednesday. Do you have any idea what you’ll be doing?”

“He gave me a writing assignment.” Sasha frowned. She’d started on it last night and hadn’t gotten very far before she put it down. She hated writing. “I guess we’ll go over that.”

“You don’t seem excited about it.”

“I’m not. But everyone talks about how beneficial it is to write my thoughts down, so I’ll do it and see how it goes.” Those were her words, but Sasha knew exactly how it was going to go. She’d hate every second of it.

•   •   •

Sasha chewed her bottom lip Wednesday while Cole read over the writing assignment he’d given her. She’d spent hours writing down her goals for the retraining on Monday when she got home from Abby’s. She’d thought she’d done a good job, but kneeling in the bedroom of the guesthouse he used as an office, with him sitting at his desk, she started to have doubts. He had a red pen in his hand and he was using it far too frequently. Judging by the frown on his face, she guessed he wasn’t writing Terrific insight or Excellent work.

Her suspicion was confirmed when he finally put the pen down and looked at her while taking his glasses off with one hand. Earlier, when he’d opened the door to welcome her inside, she thought he looked ridiculously hot. At the moment, he looked downright frightening.

“Sasha.”

She tried to speak, but her mouth was too dry. She licked her lips and managed to sputter out, “Yes, Sir?”

“First of all, stop looking at me like that. We are nowhere near being close enough for me to punish you corporally. You will be very clearly notified when I think that time has come.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

“That does not, however, mean you will find any punishment comfortable.”

“Of course not, Sir.” Why was he talking about punishment?

“When I gave you the journal, I indicated written assignments had to be two things. What were those two things?”

“Insightful and grammatically correct, Sir.”

“Yes, and while I think these goals are insightful, the horrific grammar keeps me from ascertaining them completely.”

She flinched. “Sorry, Sir. Grammar has never been a strength of mine.”

He tilted his head. “You didn’t tell me this when I gave you my expectations yesterday.”

No, she hadn’t. “No, Sir.”

He held the journal and black pen out to her. “Come get these and flip to a page in the back.”

She hurried to do his bidding and stood by his desk, pen in hand and journal opened to a clean page.

“At the coffee shop we went over your position when I’m sitting in your presence,” he barked. “Either kneel or sit down.”

Fuck. How could she forget so quickly? She sat down cross-legged on the floor and waited.

“Write ‘Infractions I Owe Master Johnson For’ on the top.” Her eyes shot up to meet his. He looked pissed. “You will be given a week’s warning before I collect.”

She wrote the title at the top with a shaky hand.

He nodded when he saw she’d finished. “Now write ‘Number One: Neglecting to inform Master Johnson of difficulties with grammar.’” He gave her time to write and then continued. “‘Number Two: Standing before Master Johnson whilst he is sitting.’” When she finished, he held out his hand. “Give me the journal and go back to kneeling in the middle of the floor.”

She swore her heart was going to pound its way out of her chest as she made her way back. He stood up and walked toward her, journal in hand.

“Usually when I find errors like yours in writing assignments, I use a ruler on my submissive’s upturned palms and then have her rewrite the assignment. I find the combination to be an effective learning method.” He lifted an eyebrow. “But you’re not ready for such a punishment.”

She wanted to look at the floor. She hated that she’d already disappointed him so deeply. Hated that there were already two punishments that would be looming between them. And she really hated that she wasn’t at the place where she could take what he thought she deserved for her actions.

“What are you thinking, little one?” he asked in a gentler voice.