Page 107 of The Sadist and the Brat

“Sort of,” she admitted, craning her neck to look down at her butt. The strands wound around her ass, leaving it bare, but the lights on the backs of her thighs had proved very uncomfortable when she’d done a test sit in her desk chair. “A stool will probably work best.”

“A backless one,” he advised, running a hand over the lights crisscrossing her back before crouching to skim his palms down her thighs. He paused when he hit a patch of tape. “You taped it down?”

“Medical tape,” she said. “I tacked it down in a few places, mostly on my legs and hips. Because, you know.”

“Movement,” he finished and rose to his feet.

She scooped her makeup bag off the sink. “I figure it’ll last my allotted two hours.”

“And the lights will look charming,” he said, stepping into the bathroom, “reflecting off this.”

She stared at the circle of metal in his hands. “Oh.”

The collar was an unbroken circle of rose gold, with a small rectangular tag in the same warm tone hanging off it. There was writing on it, but she couldn’t see what it was. She swallowed the lump in her throat and ignored the urge to touch it. “How does it work?”

“There’s a hinge, so it can go around your neck.” He demonstrated, pulling the two sides of the collar apart. “The screw fastens with an Allen wrench.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?” she asked, still staring. She couldn’t take her eyes off it. “I mean, what if you have to get it off fast?”

“It’s not designed to be snug,” he explained and draped it around her neck. The metal was warm where his hands had been, cool where they hadn’t. And when the open ends came together with a tiny click and it lay heavy against her collarbones, her mouth went bone-dry.

“See?” He gave it a tug. “Plenty of room.”

She swallowed and lifted her gaze to his. He was watching her, his dark eyes assessing, and she managed a smile. “How does it look?”

He laid his hands on her shoulders and turned her toward the mirror. “See for yourself.”

The collar lay around her neck, glowing softly in the light, the small rectangular tag hanging just above her breastbone. She could see it clearly now, and though the letters were backwards in the mirror, she recognized their order quickly enough.

“Jack’s”, she read aloud, her fingers creeping up to toy with the tag before she could think better of it. “Did you think I’d forget your name?”

He chuckled, his eyes on the collar as he fastened it into place with an Allen wrench. “You never know,” he said, and with a final turn of the wrench, dropped his hands and raised his eyes to hers in the mirror. “Well? Is it cute enough?”

It was lovely, almost stunning in its simplicity. But she couldn’t say that. “It’ll do.”

“Brat,” he said, and gave her an affectionate pat on the butt. “Do you have something to wear over this, or are you going commando under your coat?”

“I have a dress,” she said, fighting to keep her tone even. “It’s on my bed.”

“I’ll get it,” he offered, and stepped out.

“The green one,” she called after him, and with one last lingering look in the mirror, picked up her makeup bag and followed him out.

* * * *

At the warehouse they used for official club events, Jack escorted Sadie into the party area. “I’ll see you after the board meeting.”

“Okay,” she said, scanning the room. There weren’t many people here yet, as the party wouldn’t officially start until the meeting was over, but there were always a few early arrivals.

“Sadie.”

“Hmmm?” she asked absently, still looking around. Rebecca was likely here already, since Nick was on the board, and she was hoping to talk to her before everyone else got here and things got—

“Sadie.”

“What?” she said, exasperated, and turned to look at him.

He merely raised an eyebrow. “I want to go over the rules.”

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