Page 69 of Worth the Risk

“Like gangbusters,” Marcy announced as she set a fresh pitcher of lemon-lime margaritas in the center of the table. “I heard it secondhand from Hannah who got it from Ben who was fit to be tied that there was hanky-panky going on in his supply closet between Bella and Master D.”

“Ooo, give us the details,” a grinning Megan insisted. “It’s part of the LBD pact. You’ve got to dish on your man, but no worries. What’s said at the table stays at the table.”

“That’s a rule?” Bella asked.

“Yep,” they all concurred while nodding.

“I want to know if the rumors are true,” drop-dead gorgeous Joanna said, leaning in. “He’s what they call a sensual sadist. Which seems like an oxymoron to me. Can both exist in one dom?”

“I don’t believe it for a minute,” Angie stated. “Sensual, I get, but Dan’s too sweet to be a sadist.”

“Some of the other subs who’ve played with him would disagree,” Regan put in. Then her eyes flew wide and shot to Bella. “I’m so sorry. You probably don’t want to hear about your dom and other subs.”

“It’s unavoidable,” Megan said with a heavy sigh. “Tony’s conquests were legendary before I came along.” She reached around Angie and patted Bella’s hand. “You deal with it. But make damn sure he knows the definition of eunuch going forward.”

The others giggled and whooped at her threat.

Beside her, Angie reassured her, “Dan wouldn’t stray, Bella. He’s a good, honorable man. As far as the sadist part, if it turns out to be true, he wouldn’t think of going full Marquis de Sade on a woman who didn’t want it in return.”

“I’ve wondered about that. Why choose me and not a masochist, or even a submissive?” Bella asked, needing to understand. “I’ve never done any of this before.”

“You have a tell,” Elena disclosed quietly.

“Yeah,” Regan agreed. “I’m not of the dominant persuasion, but I see it.”

Megan also weighed in. “I haven’t been in the lifestyle a fraction of the time these two have, and I see it, too.”

“What do you see?” Bella insisted.

“You bite your lip,” she replied.

“And avert your gaze,” Regan added.

“And get flustered easily when a dom is in your space,” Angie also put in.

“Maybe it’s because I’m shy,” she suggested.

“Nope,” Elena succinctly refuted. “You only do it with an uber dominant male, like Dex.”

“And Sean,” Mara put it.

“And Dano,” Val concluded.

“That’s another thing. Why does everyone call him that? It reminds me ofHawaii Five-O.”

“I’m pretty sure he got that in the military. They’re big on nicknames,” Angie surmised. “But it followed him after. We all call him that at Rossi.”

“What’s Rossi? I’ve heard that mentioned before.”

“Rossi Security,” Megan informed her. “My husband started it as a joint venture with several of his Special Forces teammates. Club Decadence is their guilty pleasure that evolved shortly afterward.”

“Isn’t it odd that so many on the same A-team turned out to be doms?” Lexie said, contributing for the first time to the conversation.

“Perhaps,” Megan replied, her knowing gaze sweeping the group. “Or they were recruited into the lifestyle by a certain captain.”

“More like a certain general,” Joanna intimated. “Peter was flogging butts and tying naked women to crosses before it was cool. Mine, specifically. But, back to dear Bella. Lots of us get melty around a dom. It’s understandable. Military men and those who go into law enforcement and security have that need to serve and protect that appeals instinctively to all women, not just submissives. Then there’s how they look in a uniform,” she said, fanning herself while the other women nodded in enthusiastic agreement.

Bella was still stuck on one fact they didn’t elaborate on. “What kind of security?”

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