Page 46 of Hunter

“I don’t bother with would haves, could haves, or should haves, Ember. It serves no purpose. The correct question to ask would be whether I would pursue a relationship with you if you had been completely honest with me.” He chucked down the rest of his drink. “That is what I value above all else.” He blinked slowly; his gaze unfathomable. “Total honesty.” With a firm grip on her arm, he tugged her off the stool. “Come, it’s getting late.”

Lilith was in the grip of a panic attack and couldn’t help but wonder if somehow Hunter was onto the game she was playing. She immediately parked that theory. If he had found out she had lied on her application, he wouldn’t have waited three weeks before taking action… or would he?

The truth was, Lilith didn’t know the kind of man he was outside of the one she had come to know. She didn’t believe that man would ever cause her harm. Hunter Sutton, definitely not. He was a man known for his honor and integrity. This one dragging her deeper into the bowels of debauchery… he was a totally different ballgame.

The fact that he had hit the nail on the head shook her to the core. She had been lying to him, even before she had set a foot inside his club. Completely fragile, she realized that no matter what happened from hereon in, she didn’t stand a chance to win Master Crow, aka Hunter Sutton’s heart.

“Ember, you’ve met Master Eagle before. This is Master Phantom. He has graciously offered to participate in your off-site evaluation.”

“Evening, Ember. Welcome to Castle Sin.”

“It’s wonderful to be here, Master Phantom.” Lilith wondered if there were any of the Masters who didn’t have a sexual appeal that drew every sub in. Master Phantom was a little older than Hunter but no less attractive or sexy. His warm smile immediately set her mind at ease and enveloped her with a sense of trust. Whatever Master Crow intended, she instinctively knew Master Phantom would take care of her needs, first, and foremost.

“One of Master Phantom’s favorite scenes is an erotic flogging. He has already studied your limit list, so he’s familiar with all your boundaries. From this point forward, I will be assessing your reactions to every instruction from him. Are you ready to begin?”

“Yes, Master Crow.” Lilith didn’t know what was going on but Hunter’s attitude toward her was chilling, to say the least. His eyes glowed with a darkness that unsettled her, triggering the fear once again that he might have found out she had wormed her way into the academy with a lie and by fraudulent means.

“Since it’s imperative for me to assess the level of impact your skin can tolerate and to ensure the leather strips don’t leave cuts and marks, I need you to remove your clothes, please Ember,” Master Phantom’s deep voice rumbled from his throat.

The words ‘cuts’ and ‘marks’ didn’t reassure Lilith that the erotic part of the flogging would overshadow the pain. Cognizant of Hunter watching her like a hawk, she forced the fear to the side and complied with a smile. Master Phantom’s deep, soothing voice guided her until she was secured to the Saint Andrew’s Cross. Through it all, she remained calm and relaxed. Even after the first, teasing lashes caressed her skin, she didn’t feel vulnerable or powerless.

Master Phantom’s warm breath teased her ear as he pressed his warm body against her back. A painful hiss spat from her lips at the flash of pain the friction from his leathers caused against her soft buttocks. How was it possible that it hurt so much when the strikes hadn’t felt that painful?

“Hmm, it seems you can take much more, little one. I have to admit, that makes me very happy.”

A delightful shudder followed the row of kisses he placed along her shoulder while one hand teased her nipples and the other skimmed over her stomach to fondle her aroused and wet labia.

“Ohh,” she moaned as his thumb toggled her clit at the same time as two fingers eased their way into her slit. “I don’t… ohh,” the protest morphed into a low groan as he pinched her nipples, causing an insistent throb to spark to life inside her loins.

Lilith had scened with various Doms over the past couple of years but now that she had come to realize she was falling in love with Master Crow, it didn’t feel right that her body reacted so strongly to the touch of another man. Her eyes drifted to where he stood watching. She knew then. He was the one she wanted to experience an erotic whipping with. It was his hands, his breath, his lips, and his hand she wanted to feel driving the whip against her skin. Not a stranger, no matter how sexy and alluring he was.

“I’m sorry, Master Phantom, but could I beg a boon, please?”

“Since you ask so nicely, yes, you may.”

“I need to speak to Master Crow. Would you please call him over?”

With a wave of his hand, he gestured Hunter closer, then took a step back but remained within hearing distance. It wasn’t what Lilith wanted but demanding that he give them privacy would be rude and inappropriate under the circumstances. At the moment, he was her Dom and any concessions he made was at his discretion.

“What is the problem, Ember?” Hunter’s voice sounded gruff and impatient.

“I don’t… I…” In that moment, as she looked into his piercing molten silver eyes, she knew she could no longer lie to him. At some point in her life, she needed to make decisions for her future, her own happiness. That time was now.

Gustav was a grown man and if he didn’t realize his own brilliance and abilities were restricted by believing the misguided advice Rocco gave him, he deserved to fail. Either he woke up and did what needed to be done to elevate him and by default DevelopMate to the next level, or she was done with him. Just like she was done with Rocco.

Except… how did she tell Hunter now, here in full view of a crowd of people, that she was a liar and a cheat?

“I’m waiting, sub.” His voice sounded dark and ominous.

“I have something I need to tell you.”

“Whatever it is can wait. Master Phantom is already in Dom space and it’s unfair interrupting the scene with trivial nonsense.”

“It’s not trivial. I have to tell you… It’s you I want holding the flogger, whipping me. You, Master Crow, not him or anyone else.”

“So, I didn’t respond the way you expected with the questioning, now you’re reverting to using the power of submission to soften me up?”

“I don’t… why would you say that?”

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