pet.” Moving slowly, he fastened one cuff around Angeleque’s slender ankle. He leaned over her, brushing his mouth across her lush lips in a soft, teasing kiss. “But that doesn’t mean I have infinite patience. Believe me, you don’t want to try me today.”
4
“Wellll?” Kristy gave Wynne a sidelong look as they trotted across the parking lot. Finally, Wynne felt like she could breathe freely. Fresh air. So good. Such a relief.
Wynne knew what Kristy was hoping to hear, but that wasn’t what she was going to hear. As Wynne reached Kristy’s car, she admitted, “I’ll give you this: it’s not as dirty and gross as I’d imagined.”
“Dirty? Gross?” Scowling, Kristy tossed her bag into the trunk and slammed the lid.
Wynne slid into the passenger seat and waited for Kristy to take a seat before answering. “I’ve always had an active imagination.”
Kristy stuffed her key into the ignition, the dozen or so key rings dangling from it rattling in the tense silence. “Yeah, I knew that much, but dirty? Seriously?”
“Um, I was kinda imagining something along the lines of one of those nasty peepshow places on 8 Mile. You know, where men jerk off in cramped, scummy cubicles…and there are paper towel dispensers everywhere to…” She didn’t finish the rest of the description. There was no need. Her friend had gotten the point.
Kristy’s face went absolutely white. Then pink. Then red. “What…?” She waved her hands as the car rolled to a stop at the end of the club’s driveway. “Do you honestly think I’d go to a place like that? Wynne? God, I’m not an idiot.” She looked both ways, then pulled the car into traffic.
“I know you’re not.” Wynne stared out the window, watching but not really seeing the world outside roll by. “You asked for my opinion and I gave it. I’m not trying to insult you. Quite the opposite, you can take my comment as an insult to me. I was ignorant. I admit it.” She turned her head to check and see if Kristy’s face had lost a little of that color yet.
It had.
“Okay.” Looking a lot less livid, Kristy gave her a half smile. “I can accept that.” After a beat, she asked, “What did you think of Rolf and his brother? Hotties, aren’t they? Both of them.”
She nodded. “They are. Rolf invited me to come back tomorrow. To play.”
“So, do you want me to bring you back tomorrow?” Kristy turned onto a freeway service drive, steering toward the entrance ramp less than a quarter of a mile ahead. “Lucky girl! Master Rolf doesn’t play with just anybody. He picks and chooses his subbies.”
This time, it was Wynne’s turn to blush, although her color change wasn’t produced by anger but pure embarrassment. “Really?”
“Yeah. And I have to say, I haven’t seen him look at anyone like that before, not even his usual subs.” After a beat, she added, “You didn’t answer. Do you want me to drive tomorrow?”
Wynne fingered her burning cheeks. “Oh. Uh. No, thanks.”
“Okay. Can you remember how to get here, or do you need me to print up a map?”
“Um, I’ll be fine.” Wynne dropped her gaze to her lap, where her hands were clutched so tightly her knuckles were white.
Silence.
Kristy cleared her throat as she checked the rearview mirror before changing lanes. They were rolling up on their exit already, a good thing. “You’re welcome to raid my closet if you want to wear something special.”
Fighting the urge to squirm in her seat, Wynne plastered on a cheerful face. “Thanks.”
Kristy maneuvered the car down the exit ramp and stopped at the red light. She gave Wynne one long look and frowned. “You’re not going.”
“Nope.”
Kristy sighed. “Okay.”
They made it within a quarter mile of their apartment complex before Kristy let her have it, which, of course, Wynne knew was coming. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but you are crazy if you don’t take up Rolf on his offer.”
“I knew you weren’t going to let this drop.”
“I’m your best friend. I can’t.”
“You’re my best friend, Kristy. Which is why I was hoping you would understand.”
“I do.” Kristy sighed. “You aren’t comfortable. You’re out of your element. You don’t know what to expect, how to act, what to say or do.”
“And still you question my decision?”
“Yes. Because I know you’re letting an opportunity slip through your fingers.”
“An opportunity to do what? Figure out why my ex-fiancé is my ex?”
“No, to search yourself, to grow, to step out of the past and into the present.”
“And you think I need to let some guy tie me up to do that?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s what people need sometimes when they’re stuck. They need to force themselves into a corner and see what happens.”
“What self-help books have you been reading?”
“None. My opinions on the subject have been formed from years of living, and observing people.”
“You talk like you’re a hundred. You’re twenty-three. How much could you have observed?”
“A lot more than you think.” Kristy put the car in park and cut off the engine. “Honey, I care about you, and that’s the only reason why I’m pushing this. Promise me you’ll think about it? Just go once. Go with an open mind and see what happens. I know you’ll be glad you did.”
“I promise I’ll think about it.”
“Okay. That’s a start.”
“You won’t nag me.”
“Absolutely not.”
“You won’t spend the next twenty-four hours telling me how great bondage and submission is?”
“Nope. I’d rather you tell me…and you will, after you pay Master Rolf a visit.” Kristy winked.
Sweet Jesus, there were two men. Two men having sex.
“I can’t look.” Wynne wrenched away from a surprised Master Rolf, twisting around to face the door.
What the hell had he been thinking? Bringing her into a private room to watch two men playing bondage games? Didn’t he know how she’d feel about this, after what her fiancé…?
Shit, he didn’t. How could she forget? He thought she was writing an erotica novel about bondage.
He pulled open the door, ushering her outside before cornering her in the hallway. He planted his hands against the wall on either side of her head, caging her in. “What was that all about?”
“I—I was just caught by surprise. That’s all.”
“Surprise?” Rolf’s intense gaze swept over her features, making her face sting with embarrassment and shame. But he didn’t say another word, just stood there, so close the air around her was heavily scented with his unique aroma, a blend of tangy aftershave and man.
Her body was keenly aware of how close he was. Her nipples were tingly and tight, and deep inside her belly a warm sensation was swirling round and round.
He was so much more man than John had been, not that John had been a lightweight. But Rolf’s dark, roughly hewn features were such a stark contrast to John’s golden-boy