Free Interview with a Master by Jason Luke

and reckless.
    “For a moment Claire’s expression was ferocious , and her green eyes flashed. I held her gaze and deliberately challenged her – dared her. She was seething. Every muscle in her body was tensed. I cocked one eyebrow at her in a cynical mocking gesture. Her temper flared for another instant, and then her eyes slowly clouded over and her shoulders slumped. She dressed and left the office without a word.”
    Leticia was watching me intently. Her expression was unfathomable. It could have been contempt. It might have been incredulity, or maybe something far more intriguing. Our eyes met, and then she glanced quickly away and took a deep breath. When she looked back at me again she met my gaze steadily, and I saw something move behind her eyes like a shadow.
    “What happened next?” She asked in a whisper.
    I stopped pacing. I took a deep breath then let out a heavy sigh of regret. “I never saw her again,” I said. “Claire packed her bags and moved out that same night. I didn’t realize what was happening until I saw the cab in the driveway and Claire standing there beside her suitcase. I watched her from the window. She saw me. Our eyes met for an instant – and then she turned her back, got in the cab, and it drove away into the night.”
    “You didn’t try to stop her?”
    “No.”
    “Did you want to?”
    “No.”
    “And y ou never saw her again? Ever?”
    I shook my head. “In hindsight, it was for the best. Claire sensed we were on some reckless collision course. We both knew it could only end in disaster. So she did what she needed to do to protect herself and her marriage. She did the right thing. The whole affair with Claire was a burning fuse. We were lucky it didn’t explode in our faces.”
    Leticia sighed. She scribbled a note into her pad and then glanced at me with her head tilted at a curious angle.
    “What stops a BDSM scene from getting out of hand?” she asked. “It seems to require a great deal of trust from the submissive.”
    “It does,” I agreed, and then shook my head. The question deserved a more complete answer. “Write this down,” I said. “I think it’s important.”
    Leticia flipped over to a new blank page and furrowed her brow. She nodded, pen poised.
    “Young men make terrible Masters,” I said suddenly. “They’re too focused on themselves. They get into the lifestyle because of what they think they will get out of it, not because of what they can share. Does that make sense?”
    “No.”
    I took a deep breath and paced across the room. When I reached the door I stopped prowling and tried again.
    “I’ve never met a man who I considered to be a good Master who wasn’t at least thirty years old. Any guys younger than that only seem interested in their own sexual pleasure. They get involved in the lifestyle because they think it’s a great way to get themselves off, without the burden of needing to feel any real responsibility towards their partner – their submissive. It’s all about the guy’s pleasure, and in those circumstances, the submissive is more likely to come away from a scene or a relationship feeling used and unsatisfied. Maybe even abused. I believe a true relationship between a Master and his submissive is as much about the emotional balance and interaction as it is about the sexual aspects. A submissive needs to have complete trust in her Master. She needs to know she can give her mind and body to him with absolute confidence that he will treat them as a gift, not a right. Women submissives are just as entitled to feel enriched from a BDSM relationship as their Master. It’s a fusion of energies – a meeting of minds – and bodies. The woman needs to know that her Master will put her safety ahead of his demands, and her welfare ahead of his needs. Young men don’t get that. They focus too much on the physical. They think BDSM is all about sex, so they make no effort to understand the submissive woman’s mind, and how