Page 11 of Mastered By Desire

My heart pangs sharply with sorrow for him.

“You can touch me,” I whisper.

Dmitri comes forward, the robe in his hands. He wraps it around my shoulders and sits on the other side of me from Gage. I tuck the ends of the robe between my thighs, hiding more of myself. The long strand of the belly chain sparkles, reminding me that I’m still wearing the collar. I reach up to remove it.

“Keep it,” Gage says. “The collar and the belly chain are yours now.”

I’ll have to hide them from Mick or he’ll ask questions, but I’m pleased. The jewelry will be my souvenir from tonight. Otherwise, I think I’ll be questioning if any of this ever happened.

Even with these two men on either side of me, I’m not altogether certain this is real.

Dmitri rubs my back. I close my eyes, trying to imagine the words he isn’t saying. Is he reassuring me that everything can remain the same between us? I’m gonna go out on a limb here and guess that he’s never going to think of me in the same way. I know I won’t be thinking of him the same way—mostly because many of my fantasies came to life in this room tonight.

“I have to go, Leah,” Dmitri says after my heart rate has slowed to normal. “I’ll see you soon, I’m sure.”

“We won’t tell Danica, right?” I ask.

“Of course not. Who I’m with is none of her business.”

But whoI’mwith has always been Danica’s business. She’s my best friend. I tell her everything.

I’m so fucking lost. And the one person I’d talk to…I can’t say a thing.

I watch in silence as Dmitri walks to the door and leaves the room.

Now I’m alone for the first time with Gage.

“Did you enjoy this?” I ask him.

“Very much,” he says.

I’m so perplexed. “You didn’t finish.”

“That’s not the most important part to me.”

I don’t get it, and I probably never will.

“If we’re all done here, I guess I’ll head out,” I say. “Unless you need more aftercare.”

He smiles, those brown eyes twinkling behind his glasses. “I’m satisfied. I’ll walk you back to the other room. I’d like to see you get dressed.”

“You want to watch me put my clotheson?” I ask incredulously.

“It seems a small request after everything.”

He’s not wrong, I guess. We trail through the narrow hallway to the small room where I got ready for the auction. My clothes are in the same pile they were in before, minus the panties. I don’t know where those ended up. I don’t want to know, if I’m honest.

Gage leans against the doorway while I put my clothes on.

“The collar looks good on you,” he says.

“Thanks.”

Finally, I’m dressed. I take the hair tie out of my hair and redo my ponytail, hoping that it’s not so messy as to arouse Mick’s suspicions. Just because he opened the relationship doesn’t mean I want to rub tonight in his face.

“Well, goodbye, I guess.” I shrug on my coat. “Thanks for…buying me.”

Amusement flickers across his features. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a business card. “What a good girl you are.”

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