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“Yes. I’m sorry.”
“You never need to apologize for being scared, kitten. I understand this is hard and I know I’m pushing a lot of your limits. I want you to tell me when shit like this comes up, instead of waiting for it to turn into a panic attack on the beltway. Okay?”
“I’ll try.”
“Do you want to go home? We can turn around and try this another day.”
Yes! Go home, where it’s safe and there’s nobody there to laugh at you!
But that was the cowardly part of her, and she knew, instinctively, she’d just keep finding ways to back out if she didn’t push through now. “No. Let’s go.”
“All right. But I swear if you need your safe word and you don’t use it, I’ll paddle your ass every day for a week. You hear me?”
“Yes, sir.”
Chapter 17
Katherine
Black Light, it turned out, was carefully hidden underRunway.Sneaky, but brilliant. Nothing less than she would have expected from the Cartwright-Davidsons.
But instead of taking her through the trendy, exclusive club, they somehow ended up in a small psychic shop. “Umm, sir?” she whispered as he reached for the door.
“Yes, kitten?”
“Where are we going?”
“Black Light. This is the secret entrance.” His eyes danced with humor and she felt her own lips twitch in response.
“Secret entrance, huh? Is there a secret handshake or something, too?”
“No, just lots of paperwork.”
He wasn’t kidding. By the time she was actually allowed past the security table, her hand had started to cramp from all of the initialing and signing of the very extensive NDA that was required.
Austin stopped in front of a locker as it popped open and held out his hand. “Phone, baby,” he reminded her gently.
Right. It was all in the stack of paperwork she’d just signed and the lecture she’d received before having her hand stamped with an invisible stamp. No electronics. Wouldn’t want some senator’s kinky evening activities ending up on TikTok for the world to see.
She handed over the small clutch she’d brought with her, and Austin stowed their belongings in the locker. After security checked it, he was allowed to keep the large duffel bag he’d pulled from the trunk of his SUV when they’d handed it off to valet. For the hundredth time that night, she found herself wondering what implements of torture it held. She already knew he’d moved her “outfit” to the bag before they’d left her house, and as far as she was concerned, that was more than enough torture for one evening.
It wasn’t until they finally stepped into the cavernous room that she realized how incredibly overdressed she was compared to everyone else. All around her were acres of flesh. Bare chests and legs, completely nude submissives being lead around the room, some on leashes attached to thick leather collars around their throats.
And that didn’t even take into consideration the men and women engaged in various scenes and sexual acts all around them. To her left, a naked woman dangled from an intricate web of ropes, and across the room she spotted a tall, thin man squirming against some kind of wooden X, his back criss-crossed with angry-looking welts.
It would have been revelation enough to see everyone so openly nude or in various stages of undress if they’d all been the perfect, thin, beautiful model-types she’d been expecting. But though there were certainly a few of those, there were plenty of people of all shapes and sizes wandering the room. A couple passed in front of them, older than herself and Austin, and she couldn't help but stare at the slight belly hanging over the man’s leather pants. Then her attention shifted to the submissive behind him, and she drank in the calm, almost serene expression on her round face. If Kit had to guess, they were about the same size, but if the other woman felt any shame in parading herself around in front of everyone, it didn’t show.
So much for not embarrassing herself, or Austin. Her ‘daring’ red dress suddenly seemed overly conservative, and she couldn’t help but feel like she stood out more fully dressed than she would have if she'd walked through the doors naked. Both options were equally humiliating, in their own way, but if she’d worn the outfit Austin had given her, she would have at least been covered without being so painfully out of place. Obviously, he'd known what he was doing when he'd picked it out for her, and she felt another wave of shame for being so damn stubborn and refusing talking to him about it.
Just as she was turning to Austin to ask him to let her change, she heard a familiar voice call her name.
“Katherine?”
Oh, no. This wasn’t happening.
Forcing a smile she didn’t remotely feel, she turned to find one of her favorite clients, Kawan Park, smiling down at her. “Mr. Park. It’s, ah, nice to see you.”
“I thought that was you.” His smiled deepened and his dark eyes warmed. “I didn’t realize you were a member.”
