Page 15 of Worth the Risk

“I hope it wasn’t Master Alex. Even the masochists steer clear of him.”

“Who does he play with, then?”

She made sure no one was looking then leaned across the bar. “Pain sluts.”

“What are—” Bella held up her hand. “TMI. I don’t want to know.”

Hannah shrugged. “It’s not a bad thing—for them. To each his own, ya know? It’s just that word, and the C-word. It doesn’t seem right to bandy it about, as if it hasn’t been a naughty word my entire life. But back to this sadist. Can you describe him, or her?”

“He was gorgeous, even dripping in green slush. Ben said his name was Dan.”

“Oh, Master D,” she said with a grin, all tension seeming to have washed away with the mention of his name. “You have nothing to worry about with him.”

“But Ben said...”

“That’s just his inner daddy dom emerging.”

“His what?”

“That’s a dom who...” She held up her hand. “That might actually be TMI. Besides, they’ll cover all the different doms and subs and their kinks in your class, I’m sure. But about Master D, the subs talk—” She stopped suddenly and glanced around again. “I shouldn’t say. The masters frown upon gossip around here.”

“But you can’t leave me hanging!”

“Okay but keep your voice down.” Hannah leaned forward again. “The submissives who have been with Master Dan call him a sensual sadist.”

Bella frowned. “That sounds like an oxymoron.”

“I thought so, too, when I first heard it,” she agreed, laughing softly. “It means, he’s like a hybrid, part sadist and part pleasure dom.”

“I don’t understand.”

“That means, he’ll edge the hell out of his partner, and when she’s begging and pleading for him to let her...you know, he’ll—”

“What do you two have your heads together about?”

They sprang apart. Ben stood at the end of the bar with his arms crossed, still frowning.

“It’s the only way you can hear anything in here. Has Sean decided about limiting admission to the lounge on Elena nights? Someone is going to get hurt.”

“Like me!” Bella exclaimed, swiveling a quarter turn on the barstool and sticking out her leg. She’d actually forgotten about it, but now that she saw the trickle of blood that had run down her shin, which had mostly dried by now, the cut started burning.

Bringing attention to it had successfully distracted Ben, however. “I’ve got Sean coming to have a look at that knee. He was a medic in the Army and is a certified EMT.”

Wasn’t that just great? Her first night solo and she’d doused a sadist, broken eight glasses, and proved herself a troublemaker to her supervisor and the club manager.

She started to get up to go back to work. “The bleeding has stopped. I’m sure it’s fine.”

“I’m not. There could be glass still in it. Sit there and do not move,” he ordered, “until Sean says you can.”

Her eyes slid to Hannah, who mouthed, “See? Protective.”

When Ben turned to her, eyes narrowed in suspicion, she was the image of serenity, however.

“Marcy needs some drink orders filled,” he said, tipping his head to the other end of the bar.

“I’m on it,” the sassy blonde said as she scurried away.

Master Sean arrived, first aid kit in hand. He flushed out the wound and removed a tiny glass shard with a pair of tweezers, which hurt like hell. But it eased off with an antiseptic/anesthetic spray he applied before bandaging her up.

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