Page 69 of Foreplay on Words

“I’m Emory. You can call me Em,” he said with a head nod.

“I’m Talia. You can call me Tal.” His companion smiled.

“Mara.” The petite blonde gave me a little wave.

“I’m Nathan. Nice to meet you, man. It’s about time someone tried to tame Chase,” the tall, dark-haired man laughed with a wink aimed at my girl.

We all piled into a black Mercedes van parked on the curb and headed to wherever they were taking me. I wasn’t paying attention to anyone in the vehicle on the way, and Chase kept looking at me with concern.

“Evan, a little word of advice. Don’t make eye contact with Grace. It won’t go well for anyone if you do,” Emory instructed quietly.

“Control freak,” Chase muttered under her breath. Apparently, she didn’t like Grace very much.

I clung to her hand tightly as we entered the loading dock door of a nondescript office building. Loud music could be heard coming from behind a doorway to our left. Two large security guards dressed entirely in black leather were on either side of the door.

“Hello, Gentlemen. Emory Gage,” Em told them as he confidently approached the door.

They consulted a tablet and counted the number of people in our party before opening the door.

“Take deep breaths,” Chase whispered as I followed closely behind her.

Easy for her to say. She wasn’t the one on the verge of a panic attack.

We all signed a standard NDA and handed them to a young woman with flame-red hair wearing a leather harness and black lingerie with thigh-high patent leather boots.

I followed Em as he walked into the room, and a tall brunette immediately greeted us.

“Emory! Tal! I’m so glad you could come.”

She was wearing a tight patent leather corset dress.

“Chase. Nathan.” She nodded dismissively, not looking in their direction.

“Satan,” Chase whispered, and I smiled at her.

“Who are these two lovely creatures?” Grace said, motioning to Mara and me.

Chase squeezed my hand and shook her head.

“Mara is Nathan’s companion for the evening,” Em told her in a bored tone.

“And this one?” She gave me a predatory grin, and I stared down at Chase’s shoulder to avoid eye contact. This woman was intimidating.

“Is off-limits. He’s an observer, like Chase.” Emory’s voice had changed from his jovial manner at the studio to one full of authority.

I nervously scratched my neck and swallowed heavily. I could feel her eyes narrow in on the red cuff on my wrist and was very thankful I had it on.

“Too bad,” Grace sighed in a bored voice. “Anyway––I’ve acquired some new talent and have decided to debut him tonight.”

She raised her hand in the air and snapped twice.

A man kneeling beside a lounge chair dropped to all fours and crawled across to where we were standing. Sitting up to rest on his knees as he reached her side. He never once looked up. His entire chest was covered in tattoos, and he wore a leather collar with a clip ring. His leather pants were stretched tight on his legs, and his feet were bare.

I found myself morbidly fascinated watching him move. I’d never actually seen a ‘pet’ before.

“Stephen is such an obedient pet,” Grace cooed as she arched an eyebrow at Nathan. Obviously, there was some history there. “We’ll be in my usual room. We’re performing first tonight. I promise you won’t be disappointed.”

Terrified was more like it.

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