The St. Andrews Cross demonstration held my attention longer than most I’d seen over the years. The X-shaped apparatus that hinged in the middle had me picturing Lucy’s body helpless, spread open, affixed to the restraints at each of the four arms of the cross. There were playrooms for rent with larger pieces of equipment—such as the one showcased on stage—and I itched to take Lucy to one someday but knew that this would likely be our last encounter. Either we would go our separate ways in two weeks or be stuck together forever. Both scenarios would put an end to whatever we were doing down here. I wasn’t willing to risk discovery, and she would likely never trust me enough to reveal her deepest sexual desires, so we would put on different masks for each other and have a boring sexual relationship, if we had one at all.
That was why I had to make tonight count.
Grabbing a seat at the bar, I ordered a whisky neat while I continued to watch the show. The Dom had just turned the crankon the side of the cross, slowly bending his submissive over and presenting her intimately to the room before teasing her soft skin with feather-light touches.
Keeping one eye on the door, I awaited the moment when Lucy would emerge, finding myself curious as to how she traveled to Desire. She wasn’t allowed to drive herself, and it would not go unnoticed if she took a car—the security at the gate would recognize her and alert Myles immediately. Hell, he would probably lose his job if it was ever discovered she was down here with or without him.
As the minutes ticked by, I became nervous that she bailed on our rendezvous. Maybe it was for the best. We shouldn’t be doing this, especially when I held the knowledge of her identity while she was blind to mine.
I was crossing a line, and I knew it.
Just when I was about to give up hope and head home, the bartender handed me a note. Unfolding the paper, my heart began to race as I read the message.
Your submissive is waiting in your room.
I’d been so distracted by the thought of Lucy and how I could put the demonstration to use that the idea of her beating me to the club never crossed my mind—regardless of the fact that I gave her a head start.
Pushing off the barstool, I took several deep breaths to calm my racing heart. She came, and was waiting for me. I needed to be calm and in control—two things that proved challenging when Lucy was near.
Nerves threatened to unravel the careful control I’d honed over the years. What if she finally put the pieces together andfigured out my identity? Would she feel used? That was the last thing I wanted, but I knew I was playing with fire each time we met like this.
Reaching the door to Room 203, I reminded myself that she requested this encore, so who was I to ruin that? Punching in the key code, I heard the digital sound of it unlocking before I slipped fully into Dom mode as I opened the door.
I nearly stumbled when I looked up from the doorknob to find the sight that awaited inside the room.
Fuck. Me.
Lucy was facing away from the open door, kneeling on the floor at the foot of the bed, with her hands clasped behind her back and her head bowed—a perfect “submissive ready” posture. There was nothing more arousing than a ready and willing sub. Not moving a muscle, she gave no visible reaction to my entry into the room. She was waiting for me to command her.
Clad in a silver sequined dress, no doubt an exact color match to her mask, it was a contrast to the see-through outfit she wore the first time we met down here. Every subtle detail gave me another piece of the puzzle of Lucy’s involvement in this world. She knew enough that asking for an encore meant her body wasn’t for others to see. She knew exactly how to wait for her Dominant.
I wondered if she had any long-term Doms in her past.
There had to be at least one. A sub didn’t learn their role this well without proper instruction, and that didn’t come from casual play partners.
That thought was quickly forgotten when I saw the flash of red at the bottom of the heels she wore, with the soles presented to me, seated as she was in this position. I had to hand it to Lucy; she was right about those being sexy as hell.
Getting a grip on myself after finding her like this, I lowered my voice not to give myself away. “Hello, Ari.”
Demurely, she answered, “Hello, Sir.”
Fuck. That one word went straight to my dick. It was a submissive’s show of respect—this was the one place on Earth where Lucy gave that to me. If I weren’t already hard at the sight of her, that would have done it.
Approaching her from the right, I reached down to take her chin in my hand, turning and tilting her masked face to look at mine. Tsking, I chided, “I remember telling you this arrangement was for one night only.”
Lucy tried to dip her head to avoid meeting my gaze, but I held her chin firmly in my grasp, not allowing her to look away. When she remained silent, I commanded, “Tell me why you asked for more.”
Taking in a shaky breath, she responded, “I needed to escape, Sir.”
I knew what she meant, but the words were still a knife to the gut. I drove her to this, even if I was also the one she trusted to make her troubles forgotten for a time.
Feeling like a fraud, knowing what we were doing was an abuse of the unconditional trust Lucy handed over so freely, I had a moment of doubt. The right thing would be to end this now, telling Lucy the truth and letting her do with it what she would. But I couldn’t ignore that sheneededthis tonight, and it was my job as her temporary Dom to see to her needs.
“On your feet.” I kept my tone as detached as possible in my demand. That was the only way I would survive this night. We couldn’t keep doing this.
No doubt her muscles were sore from the time spent in the ready position, but Lucy gracefully maneuvered her body to stand before me. My eyes trailed down her body, and I noted that while her dress wasn’t transparent, it was short—short enough that the act of walking was enough to shift the hem and expose her.
Opening my mouth to reprimand her for risking the gaze of a Dom she didn’t belong to, the words died on my lips when her blue eyes flashed to mine. It was a bold move for a submissive to make eye contact without permission, and that was the first time I saw a spark of Lucy down here. A part of me wanted her to push me too far, just so I could punish her for the hell she put me through these past couple of months. I couldn’t use outside actions as a reason, especially since she didn’t know I was acting as her Dom. I needed blatant defiance while we held these roles.
