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The next day was busier than usual for a Saturday due to the arts and crafts fair taking place in the town square that went along with the book fair at the library she had made plans to attend with Avery tomorrow. Nan enjoyed her regulars as much as the visitors coming into Willow Springs to shop at the booths of handcrafted goods, but despite being run ragged with orders and sales, her mind remained preoccupied with the decision on whether to return to The Barn tonight. Her friends expected her, and likely Master Dan did too. But every time she tried to imagine herself in another scene, being bound to one of her favorite apparatus, she broke out in a cold sweat. It wasn’t the return of the painful bad memories that caused the nauseous churning in her stomach, but the fear of failing again, of letting down those friends and another Dom.
Ignoring a text invite from Tamara to join her, Sydney, Avery and their spouses at the diner before going to the club, she waved goodbye to the last customer to leave and started to lock the shop’s front door when Willa from the library popped in. Holding a foil-wrapped plate, the elderly woman handed it to her with a smile.
“I’m glad I caught you. Alice and I saved these aside for you this morning when she arrived at my place early to help me bake for the bake sale. I hope brownies are still your favorite.”
“You bet.” Touched, Nan came around the counter, took the plate and gave Willa a hug in appreciation for her thoughtfulness. “Thank you so much, and tell Alice thank you. I’ll be over tomorrow as soon as I close at four and return your plate.”
“Wonderful. We have a good selection of new titles you’ll like. See you then.”
Nan locked the door behind her and closed the blinds before turning to clean up, which gave her another hour to wrestle with her indecision about going out tonight. By the time she shut off the lights and trudged upstairs, she was dragging her feet with both mental and physical exhaustion, carrying the plate of brownies.
“Fuck it,” she muttered, entering her apartment and closing the door behind her to lean against it with a weary sigh. “And fuck you, Master Gerard.” The man she’d met at a casual, friendly BDSM mixer could have won an Oscar for his acting skills. The persona of a strict but considerate Dom he portrayed to ingratiate himself into the local club had disappeared as soon as she refused to be his sexual and subservient slave. After their initial meeting at the mixer, her brother Jay left for Houston to assist with a case linked to one of his. During his week-long absence, she’d given in to her boredom and the needs begging to be met since hearing Master Gerard’s deep voice and seeing the lustful interest reflected in his pitch-black eyes.
Following a few dates in public places, Nan had played it smart and careful when she’d accepted Gerard’s third invitation to dine at his mansion by texting Jay of her plans and location. She hadn’t been smart or careful when she let her guard down and fell for the considerate ‘we’ll take it slow so I can learn what you need from submission’ line he fed her to get her to stay at his place until Jay returned instead of heeding the shivers his cold, calculated stares gave her. He’d backed up that line by putting her in the guest bedroom of his two-story, historical home the first night and not making any moves. The second day there, he’d given her a glimpse of his dungeon in the basement, and she’d been torn between fascinated curiosity and the first prickles of alarm gazing at the medieval implements and furniture of torture he’d amassed had produced.
On the third night, he bound her to the bed, his black eyes lacking any warmth or approval as he brought her body to the brink of climax over and over with sharp snaps of a flogger only to stop before she could go over. By the time she curled under the covers, her body throbbing with heated pain front and back and he’d walked out with orders not to touch herself, she was considering leaving first thing in the morning. Too bad she let herself fall for a return of his outwardly charming demeanor as he served her breakfast on the small veranda by the pool. When he ordered her to strip outdoors an hour later, she’d been both eager to please and to get relief from a long night of unfulfilled arousal. That lasted until she knelt upon his instructions and then refused to agree to be his slave when he laid out what he wanted from her.
Shuddering at the memory of what had come next, Nan pushed away from the door, set the brownies on the end table next to the sofa and went to her small stash of liquor under the television. Getting hauled upstairs and locked in the guest bedroom naked and left with no food and only the bathroom sink for water for four days had been the easiest part of the following week as Master Gerard’s captive. Knowing she wouldn’t be going anywhere tonight, she gripped the full bottle of bourbon and threw herself onto the sofa, pulling a pillow stitched with an adorable panda face to her chest.
Bringing the bottle to her mouth, she took a long drink as she uncovered the brownies and grabbed one to ease the burn with its chocolate, sugary sweetness. “Perfect,” she sighed, licking her fingers before picking up the remote and flicking through the Saturday night fare. Shit, how long had it been since she spent a Saturday night alone in front of the television? Swigging another drink, she tried to think of anything except what she was missing out on by her continued cowardice.
Nan was down to just a fourth of the bourbon left, having finished the four brownies when she nodded off into an inebriated slumber. Seconds, minutes or hours later – she didn’t know which – abrupt pounding on her door jarred her onto the floor next to where she’d kicked off her jeans. The room spun and nausea churned in her stomach as she stumbled to her feet, her fuzzy brain trying to make sense of someone showing up this late unannounced. The uncomfortable taste of bile inched up to her throat as she
lurched toward the door. Peeking through the peep hole with one blurry eye, she gritted her teeth and swore under her breath when she made out Dan’s tall form, glimpsing the curl of his blond hair around his nape from under his Stetson.
She didn’t think twice about flinging open the door wearing nothing but a tee decorated with a large steaming teacup that skimmed the top of her thighs and barely covered her panties. Hell, she thought, the man had seen, touched and tasted every inch of her naked body countless times. Why that caused her pussy to spasm in warm response as annoyance clouded her already fuzzy head, she didn’t know and didn’t care.
Glaring up into his tanned, rugged face, she struggled to keep upright by leaning against the door jamb as she grumbled, “Don’t know why y’re here, don’t frickin’ care. Go ‘way.” Slamming the door, she spun around and ran into the back of the couch just as he walked inside, ignoring her dismissal.
“Damn it!” She whirled, and he caught her as her head went on a fast roller coaster ride around the room. “Whoa.” She leaned against his wide chest and sighed, mumbling, “Go ‘way.” again.
Chapter 6
Dan held onto Nan, trying to ignore the urge to strip off her top and fill his hands with the lush breasts pressed against his chest. He ached to touch her again almost as much as he needed to find out what she’d been through while away. He’d spent the last few hours at the club, frustrated with her absence but determined to give her more time before confronting her about the truth. That decision had only lasted until he failed to drum up any enthusiasm or interest in choosing a sub to play with, not even to take his mind off the one who had occupied his thoughts the most since first witnessing her eager enthusiasm to please a Dom while embracing her need for painful stimulation. It hurt the way she’d shut him out, as much as it agonized him to see her looking so defiantly despondent as she ordered him to leave.
“Not going to happen, hon. Jesus,” he swore as he spotted the near empty liquor bottle. “Please tell me that wasn’t full when you started this binge.”
She shook her head and pulled back and he got a good look at her pale face. “Can’t. Sick.”
Letting her go, he shook his head as he followed her awkward dash to the bathroom. He stopped the slam of that door with his hand and refused to give in to her cursing insistence for him to leave as she fell to her knees in front of the commode. As she threw up, he wetted a washcloth in cold water then leaned over and wiped her perspiring, flushed face while flushing the toilet.
“Is that it for now?”
“I’m not talking tonight, so go ‘way.” She made a feeble attempt to push him away.
“Baby, you’re going to have to come up with something else to say or keep quiet. Come on, up you go.” Dan led her out of the bathroom with an arm around her shoulders and back into the living room to grab her jeans. “I’m parked out back, so we can just carry these with us. Let’s go.”
Nan stiffened and braced her feet, halting their trek to the door and drawing his eyes to her long, slender legs. Fuck, but he really liked those legs. “Where?” she asked with a suspicious glare that curtailed the quick spurt of lust.
“My place. I’m not leaving you alone like this and I have to be up early. And don’t worry, I have no intention of betraying your trust by taking advantage of your state to pry answers out of you. You will be stone-cold sober when you tell me what happened.” She opened her mouth to argue and anger overrode his concern. “Don’t fucking argue with me, Nan. I’m already a hair’s breadth away from sending my good intentions to Hell by hauling you across my lap and spanking answers from you.” Knowing him as well as she did, she must have seen how serious, and how frustrated he was because she nodded despite her own annoyance flaring in her red-rimmed eyes.
Luck was with him when she fell asleep on the ride out to his house, which made it easy for him to scoop her up and carry her into the guest room she was no stranger to. After tucking her in, he locked up, tugged off his boots and shirt and settled in the wide cushioned chair next to the bed. He preferred ensuring she would sleep well now rather than being roused from his bed right after getting into it when he got up early to do chores.
Some indefinable emotion rolled through him as he watched her restless shifts and listened to her mumble. He remembered how much he’d missed her while she was away, how he’d taken it personally when she stopped answering his texts and calls even though she’d done the same with her girlfriends. He’d been itching to put his hands on her soft flesh again ever since she returned, craving to hear that breathy catch in her throat as he striped her skin red with a reed-thin cane or leather strap and ached to sink into her tight, wet heat. She was the one woman he never tired of dominating and the only one he’d allowed himself to develop a close, fond friendship with.
Which made it even more difficult to remain calm as she cried out in sudden terror, her slim body twitching as if in pain that went beyond what she’d always reaped pleasure from. She settled down as he leaned forward and brushed his fingers down her clammy cheek, whispering, “Shh, Nan, I’m right here.” He jerked as if struck when she responded with a whimper and pleaded in a tone and with words that cut him to the quick.
“Help me, Dan, Master… please, help…”
