"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

"No."

"You really should."

I grew angry. "Did you take Jaycee to Dr. Levine too?"

"No."

"Why not? Why do I get special treatment?"

He looked surprised. "I believe everyone has free will. Jaycee knew what she was getting herself into. She wanted that. Who am I to tell her she was wrong? Everyone has a choice and Jaycee made hers. Sure I advised her to be careful, but she didn't listen, not that I expected her to. For a slave, she sure had a mind of her own. But with you, it's different. You aren't drawn to the Taleans...you're repelled by them. Hell, you didn't even know what BDSM stood for! So why put yourself into danger? It's not like you can bring her back.

"Sandy, Dr. Levine's advice shouldn't be ignored. These men are dangerous. What are you going to do?"

"Whatever I have to."

"Even if it means your death?"

I looked at him. "How can you live knowing this goes on? How can you wake up every morning and look at yourself in the mirror while people are being raped, tortured and killed?"

"People are raped, tortured and killed every day. The papers are full of it. Haven't you ever watched the news? Hell, Sandy, you're from New York. You should know how dangerous men can be. It's human nature. In every century since recorded history began, there have been men who have committed atrocities. Many of them were political or religious leaders. Rape isn't something invented by Taleans, nor is murder. So now you find out a group of men are committing murders and you're going to infiltrate them and bring them down all by yourself? Is that what you're telling me?"

"Someone has to."

"You're wrong. No one has to. If you kill a hundred murderers, there will still be a million left. We're responsible for ourselves, no one else. I take responsibility for what I do. What others do is their choice. Some make bad choices, some make good choices. Let me ask you this...after you're done wiping Taleans off the face of the Earth, will you be going after the drug lords? Terrorist organizations? The military? Who'll be your next target? Do you really think you can make a difference? That you can change human nature?"

I didn't know what to say. On some level I knew he was right, but the Taleans hadn't killed a stranger. They'd killed my baby sister, my last living relative. The funny part was, I'd hardly ever spoken to Jaycee, but she had been there. She had been a phone call away. Perhaps my wrath was selfish, but I'd seen what had happened to her on the beach. I knew what her last moments were like. I'd experienced her death. Jorge's words, as logical as they must have sounded to his ears, didn't have enough magic to sway me, for they hadn't the strength to bring Jaycee back and nothing else would suffice.

"Are you going to help me or not?"

"If you're still interested, I'll continue your training. But once you join them, there's nothing I can do."

I nodded. "I know."

He gestured to his car and I got in. We didn't talk again until we were in his house.

"Since you're determined to go through with this," said Jorge, "I'm going to dispense with the formalities. You've got a lot to learn and very little time."

I nodded. We were in the living room this time. Jorge sat on a recliner. It was just a chair, but looked like a throne. I wondered if it was intentional. I sat on the sofa to his right. Though we were sitting on different pieces of furniture, we were in very close proximity. He could easily reach over and touch me from where he was. The thought was never far from my mind.

"I'm going to tell you something," he said, "that most doms will never admit. Perhaps most don't even realize it."

I looked at him expectantly.

"It is impossible to dom a woman."

"What?"

"It is impossible to dom a woman...or a man either, I suppose."

"Haven't you had submissive..."

"Sure I've had subs. They called me Master. Sometimes even subs that weren't mine have called me Master as a term of respect. But I've never dommed anyone."

"Okay, I'm confused."

"I don't dom women. Women dom themselves."

I considered what he said, and thought I understood, but he was in talking mode now, so I waited patiently and listened to the rest of it.

"Every submissive is different, but they are unified in that they need to give control of their lives to another. That's their need, not mine. I only provide them an outlet to satisfy that need.

"In the past, I've been with a number of women. Some were into pain, some weren't. Some were into rape fantasies. Others weren't. I 'dommed' them by giving them exactly what they needed. The trick is to be sharp enough to accurately determine their needs, for once you give a woman what she needs, something no one else has ever given her, she's yours. Questions?"

"Tons."

"Go for it."

"How did you know where I was staying?"

He stared at me for a moment, then broke out laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"I meant questions about what I was talking about...nevertheless...I followed you last night. I wanted to make sure you got home safely, but also, I had planned today's encounter yesterday."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

He shrugged. "Part of being a dom is keeping women off balance. If you don't know what to expect, you can't have expectations, can you? Last night, you thought I'd sleep with you. You talked yourself into it. Then, when it didn't happen, it bothered you that I didn't."

"Your actions are deliberate, aren't they?"

"Completely."

"So you weren't mad at me for saying no last night."

"I expected you to. It was, to some degree, a test. You passed with flying colors."

"I did?"

He laughed again. "Of course. Don't you realize how submissive you were acting last night--and this morning? A man making you wait for him. You've never done that before. A man telling you what to do and you blindly obeying. When you felt I was pleased, you radiated joy and when you thought I was angry, you felt horrible. True?"

I didn't want to admit it. It couldn't be true. I was not a submissive woman. I controlled my relationships. I controlled everything in my life. Yet somehow, he had turned the tables on me in ways that made me most uncomfortable. His control over me drove me to distraction. I wanted to beat him at his own game, but there were other issues, and I couldn't let this become a power struggle. Still, when I replied, my voice was like ice.

"Yes."

"Does that surprise you?"

"Yes."

"Well, stick around, girl. The surprises are only beginning."

He smirked, and I blushed, not sure where he was leading me, but fairly certain it would be in a direction I didn't expect.