Page 15 of Dmitri

“It means he has decent fucking etiquette.”

“No.” He turns around and clasps his hands behind his back. “It means he wanted to give you pleasure. And he told you to call Red if he was too much. That means he might have seemed like a crazed animal to you, but he was in his right mind and remained cautious of your wellbeing. Did he take the cuffs off you without you asking?”

“Yes.”

He smiles like he’s figuring it all out. “He has a conscience, then. Otherwise, he would have left you dangling until someone else freed you, hours, maybe even a day later.”

My throat closes. Kaleb’s too smart for his own good. Tooperceptive. Too devious.

“Did you like it?” he asks, crooking his finger for me to come closer.

“Yes.” I hope it hurts his black heart to know that. I hope he knows it wasn’t a punishment for me to fuck a stranger in a warehouse.

“Good. Because you’re going to do it again and again until he cracks.” Kaleb smirks. “He hasn’t been in the ring for a long time, but I’m working on a plan to lure him there again.”

“How?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

I step closer. “If it’s not something to worry about, then why involve me anymore?”

“Your part isn’t over, Dae.”

“How much information can you possibly want about this guy that you can’t find on the internet?”

Kaleb doesn’t answer. Instead, he pulls out another cigarette and lights it up. “Don’t disappoint me.” He takes a long drag again and blows the smoke into my face. “You know what will happen if you do.”

His warning starts my panic. I can’t go through that again. I barely survived it last time. “How am I supposed to find him again?”

Kaleb arches his brow and flicks his cigarette at me. “Figure it out.”

Chapter 4

Dmitri

It’s been two weeks since I was in the cage. Feels like a lifetime. Since that night, I’ve worked relentlessly at the club, just to keep myself occupied.

“Will you help me tonight?” Sophie asks from the other end of the sauna.

“Absolutely.”

Sophie’s one of our Femme Dommes. Splitting her time between the Monarch Club and her day job has left practically no time for herself, which Ryker and I have been trying to help her understand. The woman needs rest. Friends. A life.

I said I’d be her assistant tonight with a BDSM class we’re teaching on impact play. Guess she was afraid I’d back out. Not surprising, considering I’ve flaked on her twice in the past month because I cannot get my shit together and haven’t been in a good headspace to flog someone.

“Your bruises are nearly gone.” She doesn’t tear her eyes off me as we sit across from each other in the sauna. “That’s good.”

“Mmm hmm.”

I’m sure a lot of people assume she’s got a thing for me, but I know better. No one can be in love with a monster like me.

I’m fuckable, not lovable.

And I’m not really Sophie’s type.

We sit in comfortable silence for a while and I almost nod off when she startles me by saying, “Well, time’s up. Back to work I go.”

I should probably get back to work, too. After hitting the shower, I stop in front of the large wall-to-wall mirror in thedressing room and stare at my reflection. Christ, I look like shit. All my bruises are fading and I…

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