Page 9 of Bound By Her

Adria came down the main foyer steps. Cole was at the bottom, two suitcases behind him. His fingers picked at the collar of his white polo.

She reached up, brushing his hand.

“The clothes are temporary. Your buyer will want you out of them after you settle,” she said.

His eyes flitted around the room.

“Cole,” she said.

He looked down at the marble floor. “Yes, Mistress?”

“Please look at me.”

His alluring hazel eyes sparkled as he looked up, and she saw tears forming.

“Your new location has many exceptional qualities. One of which is that your new Mistress isn’t me.”

He looked at her with confusion.

She continued, “I enjoyed our time together. And I know you’re going on to do great things—just not with me.”

She let the words hang between them. They had discussed this before. Her role was to train them, to prepare them for the world beyond her. At the end of their contracted time, they moved on to a new home.That was the purpose. In the world of paid submissives, bonding with your trainer was common—but staying? That wasn’t how it worked.

Adria was stage one. Cole needed to move on to stage two.

But Cole didn’t want to move on. He wanted a real relationship. He wanted to stay.

He wanted to be hers without a contract.

She tugged gently on the collar of his white polo. “Sometimes we know a shirt doesn’t fit, even before trying it on.”

It was something her mother used to say. Pain sparked at the old memory, and Adria pushed it aside, just like she always did.

Cole wiped a hand across his face. “I know. And I’m grateful…and excited.”

She could tell it was mostly the truth.

Adria handed him a cashier’s check for $250,000.

Cole stared at it. “Our agreement was for one-eighty,” he said, fingers tracing the number.

“Your sale brought in over a million,” she replied. “Consider it a bonus. Pay off those student loans.”

Her body rocked slightly as he pulled her into a crushing hug. The warmth of it caught her off guard, and for a second, she froze, before raising her arms to return the contact.

Cole was a sweet kid.

Cole had taken no convincing to join her stable. In fact, it had been the opposite. She had spent most of her time trying to scare him away.

Most of her submissives came to her because they needed the work and the money. Her contract was simple: one year of training. After that, they went to auction, where people from around the world bid for the chance to stable them for a year.

Cole had studied forensic accounting. Drowning in student debt, he had needed the money.

But Adria always suspected he had signed up because he was drawn to her.

A low rumble of tires on gravel signaled the arrival of the car. Cole released her, a huge smile breaking across his face.

“Thank you, Mistr—Adria. For everything. I couldn’t have gotten here without you.”

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