Page 58 of The Masquerade: Room 2

“Not until you address me properly.”

“Let me go, Sir.” I practically spit the words at him, disgusted by my traitorous body.

He leans in, his lips brushing the shell of my ear. “Wrong answer.”

A shiver runs down my spine, my eyes on the floor. “Let me go… Daddy.”

“Good girl.”

He moves aside, letting me open the door, all the air sucked out of this room by his imposing figure. I walk out with my head held high, forcing myself not to look back, knowing his eyes are boring into me. It’s not until I reach the residents’ lounge that I collapse, dropping to my knees in defeat.

I almost lost my patient today. It took Daddy to stop me from spiraling. Tears fall unbidden down my cheeks as I hang my head. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I wanted no strings attached. To be anonymous. Somehow, I managed to find my way into my boss’s bed. His playroom, no less.

“Fuck.”

Calming myself, I shove what’s going on with him down, knowing I need to get through the rest of my shift. I have notes to write up on the surgery and a patient to watch over. He deserves my very best and not this pathetic excuse for a woman I find myself to be at this moment.

Breathing deeply, I compose myself and get to my feet. I’ve fought too goddamn hard to get where I am. No man will stand in my way. I can find another Dom to train me. I can’t find another neurosurgeon of Daddy’s—Dr. Harrison’s—caliber. I value his surgical skills over his cock, no matter how much I reveled in his dominance.

All I need to do is get through the night, then I can go home and fall apart at how badly I’ve messed up.

I find sanctuary in the ICU, sitting at my patient’s bedside, monitoring him while I chart. Thankfully, Dr. Harrison only stops by once to check his vitals before heading home for the night. He doesn’t try to engage me in conversation, and I don’t even lift my eyes to meet his gaze.

My heart cracks at the gaping wound that festers in the air around us, and I breathe a sigh of relief when he leaves me to do my job.

The moment I see Celest sitting on the park bench at Strawberry Fields, I burst into tears, and she comes running.

“Oh my God, Frey, what’s wrong?” She pulls me into her arms, my whole body sagging against her.

“It’s over. It’s him. He’s Daddy.”

She pulls back, pushing the hair off my face, cupping my cheeks with such tenderness. “Slow down. I thought you didn’t know your Dad.”

“No. Him. My Dom. He’s my boss. Dr. Harrison.”

She takes my hand and drags me to the bench, entreating me to sit and catch my breath.

“Start from the beginning.”

“The Dom who has been teaching me is my boss, Dr. Harrison. Pierce Harrison.”

“Master Harrison is your Dom?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, but you’ve been training with him for weeks. Why is it a problem now?”

“We kept the masks on. I wanted to keep it simple, and the exact opposite is now my reality.”

“Jesus, Frey.”

“I let him eat me out with spectators, Cel. I gave him my virginity. I’ve been calling him Daddy. He’s my attending. My new mentor I’ve been waxing lyrical about.”

“Shit.” Then, the penny drops. “You were a virgin? How is that even possible? You are smoking hot.”

I wipe my eyes, chuckling at her observation. Of course, that’s what she chooses to focus on. “I’ve always known I’m not vanilla. The longer I left it, the more it magnified. I dated guys who slut shamed me for asking for what I wanted when we started fooling around. In the end, I threw myself willingly into work. That’s what’s so hard about this. My mentor in the playroom is my mentor in the operating room.”

“Fuck. He’s a ten. I’d let him do all kinds of shit in the playroom.”

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