Page 22 of Dare to Love Again

“I thought of that, but Mistress Latrice put the moves on her last week.”

“And?”

“Her face turned as white as the satin sheets in the Virgin Bride’s theme room and she practically ran from the dungeon.”

“What does she get out of coming here?”

“Good question, one I asked her point blank.”

“And?”

“She says she doesn’t know. But I’ve watched her, and the need is there but something is holding her back. She practically melted into the floor while observing an erotic spanking scene between Flynn and Cassie.”

“Those two put off enough heat to melt the polar ice caps.”

“Exactly. She swayed toward the ropes, drawn to their intense chemistry. Her face became flushed, hands clenched into fists at her sides. I waited to see which she’d do first, fall to the floor when her knees turned to jelly as she came just from watching them or bite a hole in her lip from trying to fight it.”

“She’s a voyeur, then?”

“Perhaps, but there’s something else going on with her; I just can’t put my finger on it.”

“What does it say on her application?”

His eyes rose to meet Keiran’s. “She conveniently left the D/s identifier blank.”

“And you let that fly?”

“I was on a mission for you at the time, and the board didn’t question Ryan Paxton’s sponsorship.”

“The FBI agent?”

Eric nodded.

Intrigued now, he asked, “What’s their connection?”

“She says he’s a friend of her former master, but there’s more to it. I feel it in my gut.”

“I thought you said you ran a background check.”

“I did, but it turned up nothing. Not even a speeding ticket. And Pax is unavailable. I suspect he’s on an undercover assignment. In any case, he’s not around for me to ask, nor will he be for some time.”

“I shared a few drafts with him a while back. He moved here from the east coast after his partner got shot. How it all went down he was vague about, but I got the feeling there was corruption at the heart of it. He mentioned an internal affairs investigation, and that he couldn’t stomach it anymore.”

His friend’s brows drew down in a frown, and he nodded. “She disclosed she’s a widow. One of the few personal details I got out of her.”

All the pieces fell into place. “His partner was her husband. I’d bet on it. A grieving widow, her husband who is also her dom, killed in the line of duty. Looks like we’ve just found our problem.”

“Our problem?” A grin split Eric’s face despite the seriousness of the subject. “I knew you were the dom for the job.”

“Oh no. Not this dom, or this job. I misspoke.”

“Misspoke, my ass. You’re intrigued. You’re also in a rut, my friend. And you need a challenge to help get you out of it.”

“Rossi is enough of a challenge, believe me.”

“That’s work, this would be play. You know the old saying about all work, don’t you, Jack?”

He stared at the man, puzzled. “If that’s a Yank saying, you’ll recall where I’m from.”

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