What have you been up to?

We met for coffee in the sunshine. That was the gist of her text message: "Coffee? Sunshine? When?" A pleasant surprise, because I hadn't seen E. in a while.

I found us an outside seat while she ordered the coffees. The air was cool, but the sunshine was warm. A hint of spring in the air, but not just yet.

When she put the cups down she laughed at me for sitting there with my coat wrapped tight against the chill. She soon saw the point, though, after a few minutes sitting down, pulling her black wool shawl tight. We chatted about books - we seem to have a pattern of trading recommendations for good stuff. I like her taste in novels, and she likes me to tell her about music.

She spooned the last of her latte from the bottom of the cup. "So, have you gotten up to anything... you know... interesting?" When she asks questions like this, she shakes her reddish blonde curls down around her face, looking out from in between them like she's hiding from the rudeness of the question.

I obliged by telling her about an experiment with a short crop, some handcuffs and a ball gag. Mostly I told her about the marks on the recipient's bottom, the sensitive pink welts, and the pleasure they gave her the next day sitting down at work.

E. smiled mischievously when I asked the same question of her. "Actually, I'll just show you..."

She leaned forward and took my left hand. Glancing around to see if anyone noticed, she pulled my hand to her right breast so I could feel the nipple through the fabric.

Pinching it between thumb and index finger I could feel the little dumbbell ring underneath. She closed her eyes a moment while I teased her nipple and pulled gently at the piercing.

"Did you do them both or just one?" I asked.

"Both, definitely." She giggled. "And one downstairs - a week ago."

She refused to give me more details. "When it heals properly you can find out for yourself. A girl's got to have secrets, darling."