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When she saw him watching her with amusement, she made a face. “What?”
“You have quite a healthy appetite.” He let his gaze move over her petite, slender form. “I was just wondering where you put it all.”
Lia shrugged. “What can I say? I have an active metabolism.”
They made their way to the dining room. Beau sat at one end of the table. Lia took a seat to his right. She winced slightly as she gingerly settled her bare, welted bottom on the chair.
Beau had a nice view of her breasts in profile. Her dark pink nipples were a pleasing contrast to her fair skin. They would look very pretty adorned in delicate jewelry, a slender chain swaying between them.
“I’m curious. I know from reading your Enclave profile that you’re no stranger to needle play. Why have you never pierced your nipples?”
To his surprise, she flushed and looked away.
He reached for her chin, forcing her to face him. “I asked you a direct question, Lia. You will answer.”
Cheeks still rosy, she stuttered, “I’m, uh. That is…” She trailed off, actually pressing her lips together to keep from finishing the sentence. Then, with a toss of her head, she said, “I just never got around to it.”
He lifted a brow, almost certain she’d been about to say something else, something more authentic. But, instead of calling her on it, he replied, “You don’t say. Maybe we’ll have to remedy that.”
When they were done eating, Beau sent Lia down to get dressed for the drive into town. He took their trays back into the kitchen and poured himself another cup of coffee. The living room was empty now, smelling of lemon oil and the delicate perfume of fresh cut flowers set in vases about the large space. He was drawn to the huge picture window that opened onto a breathtaking view across the mountains and down into the valley below.
As he sipped his coffee and admired the view, a familiar voice behind him said, “There you are. I’ve been wanting to check in and see how things are progressing.”
Beau turned around to see Anthony, dressed as usual as if he just stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine for the mature man.
“Things are going pretty well, I think, as far as they’ve gone,” Beau reported. He gave Anthony a brief recap of the training so far.
Anthony listened, offering suggestions, advice and encouragement. “Sometimes I wonder if it’s not more difficult to train someone we’re attracted to. You have to keep second-guessing yourself about your own behavior to make sure you toe the ethical line at all times.”
“No worries there,” Beau asserted, wondering how Anthony had intuited such a thing. “Lia is way too young for me.”
Anthony lifted a brow. “She is a young woman; I’ll grant you that. But you’re not exactly over the hill,” he added with a chuckle. “You’re what—thirty-two? Thirty-three?”
“Thirty-five,” Beau retorted. “And she’s twenty-four.”
Anthony shrugged. “That in and of itself shouldn’t be a deciding factor in a relationship. Look at Lucia and me. I’m nineteen years her senior. I certainly had no intention of falling for my younger friend’s widow. In fact, I resisted the obvious for quite a while. But eventually the feelings became too strong, and there was nothing I could do about it. I may be Lucia’s Master, but I’m just as surely her slave, when it comes to matters of the heart.”
Beau smiled in spite of himself. “That’s very romantic, Anthony. But no one’s talking about love here, let me assure you. Remember, you guys approached me regarding Lia, not the other way around. I signed up for a six-day training experiment, and nothing more.”
Anthony quirked a brow. “And then you’ll write up your findings and maybe publish them in theBDSM Academic Review, Dr. Jackson?” he teased playfully.
“What can I say?” Beau replied, playing along. “You can take the professor out of the university but…”
Lia chose that moment to appear. They both turned as she entered the room. She wore blue jeans ripped at the knees and a tight red T-shirt, her feet in heavy Doc Martens, a black leather jacket with plenty of zippers and chains slung carelessly over one shoulder, her overnight duffel dangling from one arm.
Beau grinned at her. “It looks like you’re channeling Lisbeth inThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”
Lia smirked. “I was going more for James Dean inRebel without a Cause,” she quipped back. Then her gaze shifted to Master Anthony, her smirk sliding away.
“With your permission, Master Beau,” he said, turning to Beau. “Do you mind if I engage a moment with your submissive?”
Beau waved a hand in invitation. “By all means.”
Anthony turned to Lia. “Show me your mark, Lia.” His voice was calm but laced with steel.
She darted a glance at Beau, who regarded her with an implacable gaze of his own. He was curious where Anthony was going with this.
Lia looked back to Anthony. “Excuse me, Sir?”
