Page 59 of Master My Love

“They have to?”

“They can always end it with asafeword, but hardly anyone does.” She suddenly grinned. “One girl was up there for an hour and a half once.”

“She enjoyed it?”

She stared at Val like she had a screw loose and asked, “Who wouldn’t?”

“Do the tops, ever, uh, you know—fuck them?”

“Oh no, that’s not allowed,” she exclaimed, vigorously shaking her head. “They mostly use toys and dish out spankings. The masters get blown, but isn’t that always the case?”

Val felt the crowd around her shift and heard a murmur of whispers around her. The young woman standing next to her grew still.

“Are you Master Eric’s new submissive, by any chance?” she asked in a hushed tone. Val nodded, and the woman whispered urgently, “I’d tell you to run, but it’s too late. He’s headed this way and looks pissed.”

After she issued her warning, she disappeared like a puff of smoke into the throng of people. Val sensed a sudden emptiness around her, as if everyone had taken a step back. She hesitated to turn, fearing what she might see. When she did, she understood why the other submissives had been giving her sympathetic looks. Master Eric stood with his arms crossed and his lips compressed into a ferocious frown.

His voice cracked like a whip when he ordered, “Come here. Now.”

Without hesitation, she moved forward, blurting out her pathetic excuse, “I had to get my shoes.”

He glanced at her bare feet, as if seeking corroboration, but his angry expression didn’t change as he took her arm and signaled the others to carry on. None did; the show upstairs was suddenly more interesting than anything happening on the main floor, or thirty feet above it.

“You expect me to believe that you didn’t come this way on purpose”—he grated out as he strode along the upper level, the crowd magically parting to let them to pass—“hoping to catch a peek at something forbidden?”

Robbed of her ability to speak, she frantically searched for a response. It had better be the right one because she’d never seen Eric so angry.

“Answer me,” he barked when she didn’t respond at once.

Caught, it would only make things worse for her not to be truthful.

“When no one showed up with my shoes or my purse, I went to get them myself. I took this route intentionally, hoping to see what the carousel was all about.”

“You knew I didn’t want you here, which means youwere deliberately defiant.”

“I’m sorry, master,” she whispered, pointedly using the correct address. This wasn’t the time to tick him off further by forgetting the rules.

“Dammit, Valerie, I didn’t think you were ready for this yet.”

His deep, emotion-filled voice sent a shiver of excitement shooting through her.

Good gracious! You’re in deep shit, and he’s seriously pissed. How is this a turn-on for you?

It seemed crazy, but she was because, well, he was hot. He also looked ready to string her up by her toes in the medieval torture chamber and take a whip to her. Instead, he stepped aside and pointed toward the rear door where she had entered. “Go to my apartment and wait for me. The code is 7423.”

“But, master. Ijust—”

“Don’t make things worse for yourself with further disobedience. Go. Now.”

As she hurried by him, she noticed the man behind him looking on was the same one who’d recognized her earlier at the rail. Eric’s quick arrival indicated the blabbermouth ran as fast as possible to locate him and tell on her. But what did she expect? Doms ruled at Decadence LA, and apparently, they stuck together like Super Glue.

She made it to his apartment in no time. Then she paced the living room, waiting for what seemed like an eternity. When she heard him at the door, she strove for her most earnest expression of remorse, hands clasped before her, and silently waited for his lecture to begin.

With a look of intense displeasure on his face, he watched her from the doorway. “I’m disappointed in you, Valerie. We haven’t signed our contract yet, but we’ve talked about it, not to mention how I feel about trust and respect. Even without it, you’ve finished your class and should understand by now there’s a hierarchy here at the club andin the lifestyle. I need to know you can commit to both.”

“I can and will, sir. I promise.” She dropped her gaze to her clasped hands, unable to face him and his disapproval. “I’m ashamed of myself. What I did was wrong, and I knew it was when I did it. I shouldn’t have goneagainst your wishes.”

“If we had a formal agreement, I’d punish you. And though I’m sorely tempted to do so anyway, I’m already late. Kieran is holding a chopper for me. We’ll discuss this further when I return. I’ve told Thomas not to allow you into the club againuntil we get things settled.”

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