"Alright," Ashi said calmly. She thought a moment before continuing. "It was explained to me like this:

"In an abusive situation, only one person is in control and holds power. The abuser doesn't respect their partner and doesn't care about their well-being. They just want power over that person.

"In domination and submission, everyone involved holds equal power. It requires consent and respect of both partners. Both have control over what's happening and either of them can say no or that they want to stop and the other partner needs to listen to them and respect their choice.

"Domination and submission helps both partners feel good. Abuse doesn't."

Jack just looked confused. "That doesn't really clear up the hitting issue."

"Well, it's not necessarily a hitting thing. That's more in sadist and masochist department, and I'm not usually big on either of those. Domination would be more like… one of us being more assertive with what they want done."

"Wait, so… you want to boss me around in bed?" he asked. "You already do that, though."

Now it was Ashi's turn to blush. While it was true that she was happy to let Jack lead them, there were times where she made it very clear on what she wanted him to do. Nothing extreme, of course. Just occasionally guiding him on where she wanted to be touched or kissed.

"I don't deny this," she admitted, letting out a small laugh. "However, what we've done in the past is… a pretty mild version of it. In this situation, we would be asking more of each other."

Jack thought for a moment. "Like what?"

"Like… um… " Ashi bit her lip and thought for a few seconds. Then she smiled and leaned in close to him, speaking in a whisper. "Like if you had me sucking your dick and then you handed me a dildo and told me to pleasure myself with it."

Jack's eyes went wide and his cheeks flushed at the suggestion. His imagination went wild at the thought of Ashi pleasuring herself with her lips around him.

He was thankful that he decided to wear blue jeans today.

He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. After a moment, he finally managed to form the words, "That… that sounds… v-very sexy."

"Oh, you like that idea," Ashi said with a smug smirk. "Do you think you'd like to try that?"

"Yes," he agreed after a moment. She could hear the arousal in his voice.

"Oh! But I'd prefer to learn more about… " he quickly added. "About dominance, before trying."

"That's fine," she said softly. "There's no need to try any of this right away."

Ashi couldn't believe they were really having this conversation.

"There is something else about domination I need to tell you. I'm into the idea of being able to take turns with who's dominant and who's submissive. Do you think you'd be OK with switching roles with me?" she asked.

"I was actually about to ask if we could do something like that," he commented. "I don't care for the idea of leading all the time but I don't think I'd be comfortable letting you boss me around every time, either."

"Oh, good. I think this could work nicely for both of us," she commented.

"There are things about it that sound rather enticing," he said.

"Is there anything that shouldn't be done?" he asked her.

Ashi thought for a moment. "Outside of the stuff we agreed to not do with regular sex? Not much."

"Oh! There is one big thing, actually," she added.

"What?"

"I don't want any of this happening outside of the bedroom or extending into other aspects of our life," she told him.

"Oh, no. Absolutely not," Jack agreed.

"What about you?" she asked him. "I know you're not interested in the S&M aspect. Is there anything else?"

Jack shrugged. "Again, I don't really know enough about it. I would like to take some time to research it before doing anything."

"Of course, Jack," she told him. "You can research as much as you want before we do anything."

Jack suddenly gained a slightly meek expression. "Just on my own?"

Ashi's face lit up in surprise. "You want me to help you?"

"Why not?"

Ashi smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Hmm… sexy research. That sounds fun."

Jack smiled and kissed her forehead. "Doesn't it?"

The two servers in the Coffee Shop watched their customers go in and out of the store all day. A few customers stayed for a while, but they couldn't help but notice a couple that stayed for well over two hours and couldn't help remarking over it.

"Hey, do you see that cute Japanese couple over there?"

"How could I not? They've been in here for like, ever."

"What do you think they're talking about?"

"Hell, if I know. I don't speak Japanese."

"Whatever it is, it must be kinda heavy."

"Yeah, that guy has been turning various shades of red the whole time."

"It's kinda funny."

"Yeah, it is."