The Master by Tara Sue Me

mentioned that she’d be meeting with Cole on Wednesday, and Abby said she wanted to talk before she met with Cole again.
    Abby opened the door with a big smile. “Hey, Sasha. Come on in.”
    Sasha genuinely liked Abby. She was friendly and down-to-earth, an all-around nice person. And it was becoming harder and harder to find those.
    They walked through the house, the sound of childish giggles and shrieks meeting them in the hallway.
    “Nathaniel just got home,” Abby explained. “He’s playing with the kids. We’ll go to the office, where it’s quieter.”
    She led her to a large his-and-hers-style office and waved to a love seat.
    “This is gorgeous,” Sasha said, taking in the large room. Two desks took up most of the space, but the love seat was placed in front of a picture window in a small seating area. It was inviting and warm, just like its owner.
    “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.
    •   •   •
    S asha 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