Switch, Ch. 01

Simon Says: This is a three chapter story with no immediate plans for expanding it. Be forewarned, there is a little bit of male/ male oral stuff in here, but it plays a very tiny role in the overall story. You can skip it and know what generally happens when the time comes.

Note, this is labeled as BDSM, but is more D/s and does not involve bondage, pain or more hardcore forms of dominance. It centers more on control.

I love the slow burn. Happy reading!

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"Brent? What's the status of the customer portal security management feature?"

My called-out name usually pulls me out of my day-dreaming haze. This time proved no different.

"Finishing up the general administrative features by Friday. Heading off to QA and use-case testing by Monday noon. We will meet the project benchmark without a problem." I rattled off the team progress effortlessly.

"Good. James, where are you with... " And then I zoned out again.

Caroline generally did well as a project lead, but she was nothing but business all the time. Each interaction with her consisted of mainly transactional requests on her part followed by transactional responses on mine. So, the weekly status meetings were dull to say the least. Honestly the whole thing could be done in minutes by email but I suppose management feels better about themselves by having these forced meetings. Whatever.

I found Caroline to be interesting. She never talked about or asked about anything personal. She never smiled. She was the perfect taskmaster, except of course I didn't need a micromanager looking over my shoulder. I felt pretty confident in my abilities and as the slightly more experienced software engineer in the room, she should be confident in me as well.

Sure, James needed some serious hand-holding, but I always delivered on time and in scope.

I glanced at her as she worked James over, not a hint of humor or relaxation in her face. She actually might be pretty if she did smile - mid-length straight light brown almost sandy hair, slender athletic figure, nice eyes, fair creamy skin, maybe mid-30s.

My company hired Caroline one month before and essentially gave her program manager status immediately, covering five relatively high-profile somewhat connected projects. She apparently came with high recommendations. She proved to be efficient, focused, humorless, unshakeable and respected. She also was boring, or at least anti-social, and without a doubt a control freak. And being a control freak myself, while I respected her ability to do it, I was not a fan of being on the receiving end of that. Go control someone else.

Suddenly my phone buzzed, and I glanced down casually.

"Going 2nite?"

It was Steph, an old friend. Well technically an old girlfriend, but my friendship with Steph both preceded and outlasted our brief dating life. I really called her my best friend.

But then people don't usually have sex with their best friends. They also don't do other stuff Steph and I do either.

Steph and I first met at a BDSM Club meeting in college. It was one of those events where mostly horny and curious and experimental college kids could get together and talk about BDSM, and maybe even meet someone with whom they could develop a 'relationship.' Most of the attendees were not serious about the lifestyle, having just read something like "Fifty Shades of Gray" and decided they wanted to try it out. But Steph proved to be very different. And so was I.

That's where I found out I loved the dominant/ submissive relationship, that it was not a passing phase. And honestly it was where I figured out who I really was.

So, Steph and I met at one of these events. Steph was and is drop-dead gorgeous, so she had a bunch of wanna-be's lining up to meet her. Heck, if you want to try it once you matter as well do it with the most beautiful girl in the room.

Steph was no doormat though. She acted sweet to them but very kindly pushed each of the suitors aside. I watched the dance from across the room and found it to be kind of funny. She saw my amusement, we met at the punch bowl and the rest was history, in a twisted sort of fairy tale kind of way.

She actually submitted to me in college for a short while, but we felt our friendship was so much more important. And even though she was nearly the perfect one for me, I wanted to be her friend even more. So, we split up with an understanding: while neither of us were attached, we could play a little. I would get my dose of controlling need and she would get her dose of submitting need, and all would be happy.

And so now I had a bit of a sub, unofficially and only occasionally, who really was more of a confidant with a great perspective on the things I liked and cared most about.

So back to the text from her and where we might be going? It was the monthly BDSM Meet 'n Greet, similar to that college club that introduced us six or so years ago.

Yep, sounded bizarre, but the monthly gatherings were great ways for people to get together and socialize, share fun toys, ideas, approaches and tools of the trade, which I was less into, and occasionally find a match. I liked socializing with people that more or less got where I was coming from.

As Steph and I were unattached, as I didn't have a sub and she was not serving a Dom, we often went together and she and I served as each other's wingmen. Mostly neither of us found anyone of interest as I preferred stronger women rather than doormats and she preferred a strong man who was not into the harder bondage, kinda like me. She and I both preferred control and not as much the pain aspects. So, I didn't have much hope in finding someone tonight, but it was always pretty great to walk around with a gorgeous woman on my arm and occasionally play the Dom with her. She and I both got off on it.

"Yep. U?"

"U know it! Need U as plus1 tho!"

"K. NP. Pick u up @ 6. Dinner on me."

"Yay! C U Then! XOXO!"

"Brent, all ok over there?" The micromanaging ice queen interrupted my texting escape.

"Sure. All is good Caroline."

"Good." She continued to stare at me for about five seconds, I was guessing trying to intimidate me. She didn't. And as it was kinda laughable I gave a half-bored smile. She then moved onto the next mundane topic.

The meeting ended as it began, with everyone quietly moving around. I think all were afraid of Caroline, so they shuffled out of the room quickly.

"Brent, hang back for a moment."

I shrugged, "Sure Caroline." I set everything back on the conference table and relaxed in the seat until all had left.

"Are these meetings boring, Brent?"

Interesting. She was being rather direct. I respected that.

"Honestly, yes." She seemed a little startled by my direct response. I didn't play games. You want to know what I think then I will tell you.

"Well... " She almost seemed at a loss how to continue, looking like she was looking for a response. I decided to help her out.

"Listen Caroline, I am happy to do my job and I think I do it rather well. I have never failed in a project. I engage when I need to do that but otherwise, the other 42 minutes of these meetings have very little to do with me so I occasionally will do other things. Make sense?"

"I... yes." She again seemed startled. Then she appeared to come up with an angle as she immediately followed it up with, "but occasionally we may need you to assist in big picture discussions of other projects."

I shrugged. That was fair.

"So, I need you to pay attention. Make sense?" She was smiling a little. I am guessing she thought she had me or something. I shrugged again and just responded, "Sure Caroline. I completely understand. Anything else?"

She shook her head.

And with that I turned and walked out. Upset? Nah. I just didn't like my time to be wasted. She made a valid point and I accepted it. I never felt the need to prove myself to anyone and I definitely respected courage, honesty and transparency. So, she got it.

The company had chosen to place the conference room in the front of the building, easier to entertain clients for meetings and such, so I walked back through the main lobby on the way to my team area. I passed the front desk, where Hayley smiled at me shyly. Very cute and very pretty in a sort of tinker bell sort of way. She had opted for a shorter hair cut for her light blond hair, appropriately a pixie cut really. Her large pretty eyes sat above a very cute button nose and a very pretty smile, all framed by a heart-shaped face.

I generally shied away from dating as I really enjoyed the D/s lifestyle and felt that my 'match' would need to be into that too, so I didn't encourage her, but I was pretty sure she would say yes if I asked her out. She had just finished college, so she was only about four years younger than me, but I wasn't going to ask her out. I am not into converting people to the lifestyle. Yep, I am talking to you Christian Gray.

That said, some flirting with a very pretty girl can just be fun.

"How is it going Brent?" She smiled up at me as I came near her desk.

"Very good, Hayley. Looking lovely today, as always," I leaned against her desk as I stopped a moment. She blushed in response.

Just then I heard the conference door shut and Caroline walked by. She nodded at us, held my gaze for a moment longer, and then walked to the stairs to head to her office.

"Did you tick her off?" she whispered to me as she raised her eyebrows.

Did I? Likely. Did I care? I didn't get off on upsetting anyone, but I felt pretty sure she would get over it.

I just grinned for a moment and then shrugged, heading up the stairs myself.

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Going to club meetings always involved Steph and I glamming it up a bit. She honestly would look good in a paper sack, but she instead opted for a navy off-the shoulder form-hugging cocktail dress, her blond hair cascading in ringlets across one shoulder. She wore a silver chain choker, snug around her neck as almost a placeholder for a collar. In fact, it was a placeholder.

It wasn't that long ago that she actually wore my collar. I don't really care that much about collars but for her she needed to feel physically owned. She felt safer with it. She told me she felt completely naked, vulnerable, without something around her neck, so she wore the choker there until someone came along. And while I was not into collars per se, I admit that a woman wearing only a collar is very very sexy.

To be completely honest, I can see us permanently sealing our D/s relationship eventually one day. She thought she couldn't, considering our friendship, but we were pretty much perfect for each other, in what we were looking for and what we needed. But I could see her point about potentially ruining this friendship. We bring it up to each other about twice a year and are actually close to time for our next conversation on it.

I had opted for black dress pants, black Oxfords, a white button-down shirt and a dark styled vest with a dark tie. It was my standard look. Sometimes I added a suit jacket, but not tonight.

We walked through the front door and glanced around the room, her arm casually hooked into mine. We would stay connected for the night, unless the very odd happened and we met potential matches for either of us. But I didn't see it happening.

The room consisted of a mix of the regulars and the newbies and just like in college some newbies appeared to be in-the-know life-stylers but most were just curious. Some wore just nice clothes while others wore skin-tight latex or leather bustiers or chaps, more cliché BDSM wear, or even just a tiny thong. And a few women and one man were being displayed completely naked by their Doms/ Dommes.

Some might consider these events freak shows, but very cool people with common interests came together at these events. Honestly, it was just a community of people. And I had made some great friends over the years.

"Hi Brent!" I turned around to come eye to eye with a young blonde guy. I would call Christopher a friend and had known him for almost a year. He was bi-sexual but was desperately looking for a guy Dom. And I always got the impression that he had hoped I would swing his way.

The thing was, he was a great guy, but I didn't. Well, I sort of have in that a guy once almost gave me oral sex when I was with Steph, which was a bit of a long story that mostly involved Steph begging me because she thought it would be hot to see a guy do that to me, but guys do not turn me on, and so it did not happen. But the guy in question was there and we kinda were in a threesome of sorts. I just wanted Steph to be happy so I let that play out.

As I think on it, while guys do not turn me on, power, control and Steph do so I might be convinced one day to control a guy, I just don't see much if anything sexual happening as part of an arrangement.

Christopher was one of those guys who I wouldn't call androgynous, but maybe more metrosexual. Stylish, polite, not terribly manly, he had been mistaken for being gay at these events before, which was not surprising at all. So, he was almost feminine, dressed very well and was a good-looking guy. Some would call him "pretty" with his delicate features and big eyes. Who knows? Maybe with enough alcohol and a lot of limits on what happened...

"Great to see you, Christopher." I shook his hand and smiled at him.

"Oh, hey Steph! I should have known you would be right next to Brent." He grinned at Steph, but she wasn't his prey. He was just being kind per usual.

"Hi Christopher. What's shakin'?" Steph grinned widely at Christopher before scanning the room.

"Same crowd as usual. No interesting newbies tonight. Well not yet." As Christopher continued to talk about who was there, I glanced at Steph who was giving me that mischievous grin. I was sure she was hoping for some repeat thing but with Christopher instead of that other guy. And me letting it happen.

I gave her my settle-down-before-I-have-to-spank-you look. She took in a breath, likely remembering the last time I rolled up my sleeves and gave her an actual bare bottom spanking, and almost shyly looked down.

She and I knew each other so well that subtle gestures and looks could really communicate a lot. And in this case, we just did a little foreplay right there in front of Christopher. I knew she just got turned on. So did I.

I turned back to Christopher only to find him staring at me. I wondered if he could detect the slight mood and posture changes.

"Drinks anyone?" I smiled as I raised my eyebrows, turning from Christopher to Steph, hoping to deflect a little. She slightly smiled as she nodded her head. "Yes please."

I knew what she wanted. Christopher quickly jumped in, "please allow me to get those for you both."

"Sure. Thanks. Just a beer for me and a glass of white for her."

"Be right back!"

Christopher wove his way through the crowd.

"He sooooo wants to serve you in more ways than just drinks..." Steph was grinning again as she stepped up right next to me.

I smirked at her and slapped her bottom, forcing her to let out a small squeal. She then hooked her arm in mine again and snuggled up close as we waited for our drinks.

I decided to study the crowd a little more closely.

Interestingly, these events usually saw more submissives than Dominants. Likely that was due to the fact that there aren't a huge number of truly experienced Dominants and these kinds of things can be intimidating. Afterall, Dominants were supposed to be in control and so looking foolish here would be a pretty bad move. Regardless, the numbers were good for me.

And also good for me was that most of the submissives were women, well except for a small handful of guys like Christopher.

The room wasn't huge, but it was big enough that people sort of blended together. But as I scanned the room, I kind of felt like I was being watched.

And so, it seems I was. My eyes locked briefly with a woman's eyes across the room. Her eyes went wide and panicky for a fleeting second as she turned and scurried into the adjacent room. Now I would normally not care too much about this, but I was about 95% sure that the quickly exiting woman was none other than Caroline. Yep that Caroline. The one from work. The micromanaging control freak.

Now THAT was interesting. Steph caught me looking and gently touched my arm. I turned and smiled at her. She gave me the "all ok?" look. I responded with a smile and a nod. I will probably tell her later. Probably.

But more importantly I felt a bit of a charge with this knowledge.

I loved being with Steph because she was feisty and tough. I loved how she stood up to me. It made her cute. Interesting. Alluring. And sometimes it made her a challenge. I liked women who pushed back and wanted their way. I liked taming them. You can think it's just me being an arrogant jerk or a contributing member of the controlling patriarchy or whatever, but I actually think of it as a dance of sorts. A very fun dance. And she enjoyed it just as much as I did.

And so, the knowledge of Caroline's interest in this world just really gave me a charge. Of course, I wasn't exactly sure if she was of the Domme or sub variety, but based on the way she reacted, I could only assume she was in the sub category.

I honestly got a bit hard as I thought about that.

"I am going to check something, Steph. Be right back, ok?" She looked confused. I reassured her by kissing her cheek and then began snaking my way through the crowd.

Once I made it to the front door without seeing Caroline, I guessed that she had escaped. I felt disappointed. I needed to know about this.

My heart started to beat faster as I thought about Caroline being there. The very same micro-manager at my company apparently had a secret need that was quite the opposite of her public persona. A secret alter-ego. Much more interesting than a superhero alter-ego, in my opinion.

You hear about older business executive guys needing the escape of being manhandled by some Domme, sometimes even a much younger woman, but this was the first time that I had seen a woman like this -- a woman in power with the hidden need.

I returned to find Christopher holding my drink, waiting for me to return. Steph stood slightly behind him waggling her eyebrows, apparently still intent on getting me to soften about Christopher.

As I took the drink from Christopher and thanked him, the rise of urgency almost overtook me. I couldn't shake the thought of Caroline. I kept calm and cool on the surface while my emotions started spiking behind the scenes. Caroline's presence there had been stimulating. Intriguing. Enticing. I had been triggered. Majorly.

In short, I needed to fuck at that point. I needed to pin Steph down and take her. On occasion someone at these parties got carried away and just fucked in the middle of the room. That had never been me, or Steph for that matter, but I could almost tonight.

I didn't want to leave Christopher as soon as he had been kind enough to bring us drinks, and not even as charged as I was at that moment did I want to include Christopher in what I had planned, so I managed to stay another half hour. Steph could tell something was up as she kept looking at me and studying my expressions. No hiding emotions from her as she had seen it all over the course of our friendship.

"Well Christopher, we need to head out," I didn't even look at Steph. If I did I might have started to strip her there.

"Oh. A shame." And he looked like he honestly felt that way. I squeezed Steph's hand tight, managed a smile at Christopher, quick hugs and then dragged her to the door.

"What's going on, Brent?" I actually didn't answer her as I urgently pulled her around to the side of the house. We wouldn't be seen in the nearly completely dark shadows up next to the house but I could barely still see her wide eyes as I pushed her against the wall.