Page 26 of The Auction

“Yeah, but they’re all shit. Anya’s the only good female submissive he’s brought home in two years and she’s off-limits.”

“Anya? A good submissive? She’s the most temperamental woman I’ve ever met,” he said. He got out of bed, started to dress. “Loathed me on sight.”

Eleanor looked genuinely taken aback by that. “Really? She’s about the sweetest person I’ve ever met. Too sweet to be hanging around with deviants like us. Of course, I could say the same to you. Was she rude to you?”

“Extremely.”

“Hmm…interesting. Sounds like she’s got a crush.”

He doubted that. Attraction and affection were two very different things. “Doesn’t matter. Off-limits, like you said. Stupid auction.”

“Very stupid auction. The girl is fucking terrified out of her mind about it. Even Kingsley told her she didn’t have to do it. But she’s determined to go through with it. Last virgin in one of Kingsley’s auctions walked off with two-hundred and fifty-six thousand dollars, and that girl wasn’t half as beautiful as Anya.”

“I hope somebody can talk some sense into her.”

“You should try.”

He gave her a stern stare. “You know I’m the dominant in the room. Not you.”

Eleanor cocked an eyebrow at him and he saw a smile twitch at the corner of her mouth. Raising her chin, she strode toward him and stopped only a foot in front of him.

“Is that so?” she asked with quiet menace. “You’re the dominant here?”

He took one step forward so only inches separated them. He gave her his very best Ouch stare.

“I am.”

Without any warning, Eleanor’s hand shot out and slapped him quickly across the cheek just hard enough to sting, just light enough to be insulting.

“Then act like it,” she said.

She’d slapped him. Actually slapped him. He’d slapped Maggie a thousand times just like that—quick and wicked, hard enough to get her attention, not hard enough to actually hurt. A perfect dominant’s slap.

He needed that.

“I will.”

Daniel pushed Eleanor against the wall and kissed the breath out of her. His tongue invaded her mouth and her head fell back in surrender, taking the kiss like a well-deserved punishment. Finally, he released her.

“Okay.” She panted the word as he let her go. “You’re the dom in the room.”

“That’s better.”

“But you should still talk to Anya.”

Daniel laughed out loud. Maybe someday he would find a woman to love him and marry him and have children with him. But he would never forget her.

“Yes, Mistress.”

Eleanor finished straightening her clothes, took a deep breath, and nodded.

“I better go,” she said. She left his bedroom and headed for the front door. Opening it, she paused and looked back at him. “I will miss you. I did miss you…for a long time. Longer than I’ll admit to.”

“I promise I’ll stop loving you,” Daniel said. “But it’ll hurt.”

“Only until you fall in love again. Then you’ll thank me for leaving.”

“Maybe,” he said, “But not yet.”

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