Page 32 of The Laughing Game

I pretended to be shocked. “Vihaal. You reprobate.”

“I’m a reprobate?”

I smiled and put my chin in my hand, gazing at him dreamily. “Yes. I think that’s what I like about you.”

* * * *

By the time Vihaal had retrieved the key from Darya and we were standing in front of the door to the Bordello, I was raring to go and already halfway hard.

Vihaal turned to me. “You’ll have a safeword, Angel.”

I frowned. “Will I need one?”

He shrugged. “We all have the option to stop the scene if needs be. You might change your mind.”

“I won’t.”

“It might be too much.”

“I doubt it.”

“You might need to go to the bathroom.”

“Vihaal. I just went.”

He chuckled. “Darling, anything can happen in there. Safewords are a handy tool.” Vihaal smiled. “Ready?”

“Hell, yes,” I said.

He keyed open the door while Gideon laced our fingers together.

“This is going to be so much fun!”

I’d never actually been in this room before. I’d itemized every piece of furniture and implement from the receipts, but I’d never been in the Bordello at Maverick Molly’s.

Now that I was here, I didn’t know where to look first.

“Here, let me show you around. I know this place like it’s written on the backs of my eyeballs.”

“You should,” Vihaal said. “We’ve been in here often enough.”

“True. As soon as I step into this room, I’m ready to go,” Gideon said. “Now, look. Here we have a very Victorian set up,with a settee and a rug and a vanity and mirror. There’s also a rack of antique or made-to-look-antique clothing here on this rack. Did you ever play dress-up as a kid, Angel?”

“My sisters might have put me in a dress once or twice. When I was little.”

Vihaal looked over at me. “Hmm. What interesting information. Would you like to watch me dress Gideon up in something?” He ran his fingers over the edge of the wood frame of the settee in a singularly seductive fashion. “That might be a nice way to start.”

“Yes!” Gideon agreed. “Let’s ease into it for once.” He rolled his eyes. “Honestly, lately it’s all been a bitwham, bam, thank you ma’am.”

“Has it?” Vihaal asked, a stern tone underpinning his words.

“Well, you know what I mean. We get right to business.”

“Well, I usually don’t have time to waste.”

“Waste!”Gideon said, and Vihaal grinned.

Vihaal continued. “Don’t forget what you are in this room, my little Deo. You need to start addressing me in the proper way.”

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