Page 1 of The Sadist and the Brat

“It’s easy to take off your clothes and have sex. People do it all the time. But opening up your soul to someone, letting them into your spirit, thoughts, fears, future, hopes, dreams…that is being naked.”

—Rob Bell

Chapter One

Sadie Bloom shifted on her chair, sipped her virgin strawberry daiquiri, and took in the scenery.

The annual Halloween party and BDSM open house was in full, and though it was nearly midnight, showed no signs of slowing down. A round of demos had just ended, sending the crowd wandering back to the vendor booths to look at ball gags and zip ties and everything in between. The mummification booth was getting a lot of traffic, aided no doubt by the pair of very pretty submissives on display. Wrapped head to toe in cling wrap, they looked oddly like wax statues, only the strategic cutouts for breathing and fondling giving them away.

The woman had cutouts around her breasts and vulva, and the booth operator—her Domme—was encouraging curious passersby to touch. The other submissive had similar cutouts around his genitals, probably to give his testicles room. They were hanging lower than usual, thanks to the ball stretcher and weights, and his Dom was using a crop to tap at his engorged cock.

“Poor guy.”

Sadie grinned at her friend. Olivia was perched on the chair next to her, sipping her own virgin cocktail, her eyes glued on the mummification booth. Every time the crop hit cock, she winced.

“If the state of his dick is anything to go by, the ‘poor guy’ looks like he’s having the time of his life,” Sadie pointed out.

Olivia laughed even as she winced again. “He does, doesn’t he?”

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s not my thing either,” Sadie went on, “but far be it from me to yuck anyone else’s consensual, risk-aware yum.”

“I’ll drink to that.” Olivia tapped her glass against Sadie’s and pursed her lips. “What do you think Cade would do if I tried taking a crop to his dick?”

Sadie choked on her daiquiri. “Since when do you have a death wish?”

Olivia grinned. “He loves me too much to kill me.”

“True, but you probably wouldn’t sit down for a month.”

“That is very likely.” Olivia angled her head, her honey-blonde hair swinging around her shoulders. “Might be worth it to see the look on his face, though.”

“I think being blissfully in love has rotted your brain.”

Olivia sniffed. “You’re just jealous.”

Sadie slurped up the last of her drink. “You have a sexy man who loves you and does horrible, wonderful things to you. Of course I’m jealous.”

“He does the dishes, too.”

“You’re such a bitch.”

Olivia snorted out a laugh. “I take it things are not going well with what’s his name?”

“Who? Oh. You mean Paul.” Sadie set her empty glass on the table in front of her. “That’s not really a thing. He doesn’t even live in St. Louis. He just pops in every couple of weeks for work.”

“I thought that’s what you liked about him.”

Sadie leaned back and crossed her legs. “It is.”

“Do you ever get tired of dating guys whose most attractive quality is their absence?” Olivia asked.

“It’s not hismostattractive quality,” Sadie protested, feeling for some reason as though she should defend the absent and lackluster Paul. “He’s fun in bed. Eats pussy like a fiend.”

Olivia made a vague sound and continued sipping her piña colada.

“He’s too passive, though,” Sadie went on. “Kinky, and enthusiastic, but too egalitarian. When I say ‘no’ or ‘stop’ during sex, do you know what he does?”

“What?”

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