Page 4 of S is for…

Peter’s gaze raked down her body with cold calculation.He assessed her nearly naked form as if planning all the ways he could hurt and humiliate her.

Perhaps it was stupid of her not to have guessed that this was who her assigned partner would be.

They claimed they wanted new partnerships, but also that the play at the club was too safe.Boring, even.

What better way to start a game than to give her to the man who had, and would, use her in dark, brutal ways.

The man who once told her he loved her.

The man she used to call “Master.”

Chapter2

Julen and Delaney | Lihn and Joni

Delaney slowedher excited speed-walk and paused outside the Aquila playroom, and after a steadying breath stepped through the open door.

It was the night after the game announcement, and she’d finally been called to meet her partner in the Constellation Court.

Laney was used to seeing the playrooms with dramatic low lighting, but right now the house lights were up—standard white can lights that cast harsh shadows and made the room look like a storage space in a gym.Out of context, the gymnastics horse, wrestling mats, and metal and wood frames that looked vaguely like DIY gymnastics bars or backdrop frames, were odd, but not alarming.It started to make less sense once the leather covered ottomans, straight back chairs, and saw-horses with extra appendages were added in.

One look at the motorized St.Andrew’s cross in the corner tied it all together, the disparate pieces screaming “BDSM Dungeon” with some sparkly lights and streamers around the sign.

Movement drew her attention, and she sucked in a breath when she caught sight of her partner.

A tall white man was facing the far wall, examining the coiled ropes hanging from a black peg board.He was partially hidden by one post of a heavy wood frame.

She hadn’t received any specific instructions about how he expected her to present herself.Laney assumed the Dom—whose face she still couldn’t see—intended this meeting as a get-to-know-you chat and planning session for their letter.Meaning they weren’t in a scene yet, so they were just two people.She could go over there and say hi and shake his hand.She could, but she wasn’t going to risk it.Better to wait.

Except he didn’t turn around.

Laney shifted, considering.She could clear her throat, or call out hello.She swallowed both urges.Instead, she took a few tentative steps further into the room, making sure her bare feet made some sound against the hard floor, then stopped.

And waited some more.

When he finally spoke, she jumped in surprise.

“Have you done real rope bondage before?”He picked up a coil of rope, considering it.He still hadn’t looked at her.

Laney swallowed a sarcastic response to the Dom’s abrupt question.She kept her expression and her response polite, her tone deferential.Submissive.

“Yes, Sir.”

“With whom?”

Whom was such a funny word.It always sounded both right and wrong.Laney opened her mouth to say something about it—not exactly a joke, just some witty banter.

The Dom turned, and the expression on Master Morton’s face killed the urge to banter.

Dropping her gaze to the floor, she did a quick inventory on what she knew of Master Morton, which wasn’t much except that he was fairly formal and strict.Good.She knew exactly how to behave for Doms like him.

Remembering that he’d asked her a question, Laney started naming the rope tops she’d worked with, both at Las Palmas and other clubs.She stumbled a little over her words, in the rush to answer.

Master Morton’s brows rose at a few of the names.Was he impressed?She couldn’t be sure, but she thought maybe he was, and something inside her relaxed at the implied approval.

Finally, he walked away from the rope supply.A warm flush slid down her body, like molten honey, the closer he got.He was good-looking in a cold way that felt both familiar and foreboding.

Laney locked her knees as he stopped in front of her.Close enough that he was definitely inside her personal bubble, but not so close as to be truly intimate or threatening.

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