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in it."
Sam wondered if she should remind them they were in a public place. She didn't want to, though. Geoff gripped her jaw, turning her head to press her cheek to his shoulder so he could bite her neck where Chris had left his mark. Geoff didn't do it as aggressively, but the intent was in the forceful clamp of his jaw, as well as what he whispered in her ear.
"When we're alone again, I'll put the kind of mark Chris left on your neck on your ass, Sam. I like biting you."
He pulled back, though he kept his hold on her until he was sure she was steady. She was grateful for the consideration and less self-conscious than she'd expected. While some of it could be their surroundings, an erotica shop instead of the local Walmart, she didn't want to mask how much they affected her. She had no desire to play those kinds of games. Not with them.
"I'm going to go get a few things from the Dungeon Room." Geoff's smile was pure sin. Then he was gone, leaving her in Chris's care. Chris ran a hand down her back.
"What size would you wear in these things?"
She picked them out for him, but she wasn't sure about the corset, so she turned to find Madison. The shopkeeper was sitting on her high stool at the cash register counter, waving an elegant silk fan in front of her in a butterfly-like way so her hair moved in a gentle rhythm against her amused face. Sam bit back a smile. Yeah, she guessed they had been getting a little combustible. It made her like Madison all the more that the woman hadn't done a thing to defuse the situation, but instead had stayed quiet as a mouse to encourage it.
"Um, we're not sure about the corset sizes."
Madison set the fan aside and grabbed her measuring tape. "I can help with that. Even if you know your clothing sizes, it's better to measure to be sure the style corset you're getting is the best one for your body shape."
From pleasant voyeur to efficient shopkeeper in a blink. Sam was thinking about putting her on her Christmas card list.
"Hey, Madison?" Troy, the sandy-haired twentysomething who worked next door at the hardware store and looked like he could model for swimwear ads, poked his head out of the back storeroom. "I'm doing a sandwich run. Logan asked if you want your usual."
"If he lets me buy this time. Fair is fair."
"He told me to tell you he'd take it out in trade." Troy grinned. Madison pressed her lips against a smile, but from the spark in her eye, Sam thought she didn't mind that trade at all.
"Tell him I have some discount thongs that might look very pretty on him. I'll let him have two for the price of three."
Sam bit back a chuckle and Troy glanced her way. "Hey there," he said, recognizing her. Which was impressive, because she'd spent far less time in the hardware store last time than her two roommates had. "Good to see you again. If you're into gardening, we're having a sale on women's gloves today. Some fancy lady designer name brand, so they're usually overpriced."
It was impossible not to respond to that charming grin and those sky-blue eyes. When Chris shifted to stand closer to her, Troy's attention moved to him. "Oh, hey, man. We got that gravel in stock you were asking about."
"Cool. I'll come check it out."
Though Chris's tone was friendly, Sam noticed there was a subtle reserve to it she wasn't used to hearing. The last time she'd noted it was when John Howard came to pick her up for that date Chris had forever replaced in her mind with a vision of his and Geoff's drinking game. She hadn't remembered the date all that well until they brought it up, but since then it had been coming back in more detail. They'd both been there when John picked her up. Chris's reaction to Troy was a more toned-down version of how they'd acted toward John, which was good, since they'd made a not pleasantly memorable impression on John.
"Have you ever been involved with either of them? Or both?" John had asked, shooting a nervous look at the house as they pulled away, as if he expected those two sets of measuring eyes to still be pinned on him.
"No," she'd said. "They're just protective. Like big brothers."
Wow, what a lie that had been, but at the time she'd been trying to accept that as the limits of their relationship. Now she wondered why she'd ever made an effort toward something so ridiculous. Poor John.
Troy spoke to Madison. "I'll go get the sandwiches at the usual time."
Madison returned to measuring Sam for the corset. Chris moved out of the way to let her do that, wandering off toward the Dungeon Room. He didn't go into it, instead perusing a display of violet wand options, tucking his hands in his back jeans pocket as he studied them, his size and presence making him seem like the center of the room. Or maybe that was just because he felt like the center of the room to Sam.
"Yep, definitely some progress made," Madison whispered to her. "Another minute and I think he would have whipped it out to mark a circle around you."
As Sam put her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle, Madison shifted in front of her, flipping the tape around her waist. "You could tell them Troy has a Mistress and is very devoted to her," she continued, "but what fun would that be?"
Sam's eyes widened. She hadn't realized Troy was part of a Dom/sub dynamic and, with his confidence and overt masculinity, she wouldn't have guessed he was a submissive. But then she wondered why. She was a confident, independent woman who craved submission like the best kind of chocolate. Only the misguided media, who offered controversial images of Dominance and submission out of context, depicted a submissive as a pathetically cringing caricature. From the things Chris had said, she thought he'd struggled with that same issue in addressing her desire for submission, concerned about the lines between abuse and pleasure.
"Troy's so handsome, he can't help but stir up the right kind of trouble," Madison continued. "I try to take a coffee break whenever the soil or seed trucks arrive so I can watch him unload them, get all sweaty and flexy."
"Flexy?" Sam muffled another snort. "I don't blame you a bit."
"It covers both areas. Flexing and sexy. Okay, I think the best match for you will be the 'Willow' body type range in this size for height and build." Madison indicated the right one, pulling it off the rack. "It should do the trick, but if you ever have the chance to have a professional corsetiere fit you for one, it's well worth it. These are nice enough for the price, though, and lots of fun to play with."
Geoff emerged then, a book in hand. Sam glimpsed the title, Build-It-Yourself Bondage, before he drew Chris over so the two of them could study it. She didn't realize she'd closed her hands in a knot under her breasts until Madison's hand closed over them. "It's a crazy feeling, isn't it, when it's all starting?" she murmured. "I'm still not sure quite how to get a grip on it myself."
