Page 325 of Ashes of Sin and Stardust

“Because I kept poking him in the stomach and calling him a ‘Dough-dy Dom.’ Also I may have put my tongue in his ear.”

Lindsay burst out laughing. “Yeah. That would do it.”

My phone buzzed again. I checked the preview on the screen.Come out.

“Ooh, two words this time! Eh. Still not enough.”

Annette was shaking her head. “Isn’t he taking you on a date tonight?”

“Yeah.”

“So don’t you think you should be–”

“Nope.”

Annette shrugged. I couldn’t hold it against her. After all, she was a switch, so she was only half-brat.

Another message came through.We’ll be late.

“I think he’s getting mad,” I said, dismissing the messages. “How long do you think it’ll take before he comes in here?”

Lindsay looked towards the entrance of the warehouse that had been turned into the fetish club. “I’d say, based on the energy coming from the door... not long.”

“I want one,” Jenny sighed, letting her legs flop out and slumping back into her chair.

“You want a what?”

“A Dom to come in and drag me out on a date,” she whined. “Why is it so hard to find a Dom?”

“Hey. Sit up straight,” Cody said, nudging her with his shoe.

“You’re not my Daddy,” she snapped back.

“No, but I’ve given you permission to brat me until you find one, and you’ve given me permission to call you out on shit I think is important. And since you have chronic back pain, slumping like that is not good for you. So sit the fuck up or I’m adding it to your tally.”

Jenny whined and complained while she obeyed, but she had a pleased gleam in her eyes.

“Where are we going to find her a Dom, anyway?” Annette asked, looking over at Cody. Cody and Annette had been trying to find a Dom for Jenny for months and were keeping a notebook of her misbehavior to hand over when they found one.

“You could try The Lounge,” I shrugged. “There are fewer edge players there. And they’re not quite as old school as this place, so you might find a tamer.”

“Hm.” They both looked at each other conspiratorially.

I looked at Lindsay, pointing my thumb at them. “Do all Doms have a psychic link or something? I swear I’ve seen Sir and Simon communicate nonverbally like that.”

She grinned. “Not all, just some. But it’s a friend thing, not a Dom thing.”

Brett Hudson was just as sexy as he’d appeared on camera the one time I’d seen him. His mess of black curls looked particularly delicious today, and he had a hint of a five o’clock shadow. With his thumbs in his belt loops, he sauntered into our little corner and placed one hand on Lindsay’s hip. She knew he was there, of course. With her knee-high leather boots, they were the same height. He set a single finger under her chin, and they smiled at each other with that weird, knowing expression.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

He leaned forward and planted a sweet kiss on her cheek. “Let’s go.”

She had a hint of a crooked smile on her lips, and they threaded their fingers together. She wiggled her fingers at us as she left, and then looked me in the eye and raised an eyebrow in warning.

I assumed that was a subtle signal forjust FYI, your Dom is outside and is going to kill you.

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