He tsked and shook his head. “You have no reason to be embarrassed, pet. It’s not uncommon for a sub to experience subspace. It doesn’t happen all the time, and I honestly didn’t expect you to experience it on your first night, but it’s totally natural. I hear it’s very euphoric.”
Sub-what? What was he talking about? Whatever it was, he seemed to think her flaming face was due to her momentary memory loss. He couldn’t be farther from the truth. She had to get away from him. She hadn’t wanted to have sex with him.
Oh really? Then why did you beg for it?
She slammed the door shut on that thought. She had a job to do. That’s why. It was because of her job. And it was because of her mission that she needed to get away now. She’d accomplished getting close, but that was all she could do tonight. No way was she in the right mindset to get information out of him right now. She was already feeling something she couldn’t put her finger on. Trapped? Maybe, but not quite. Whatever it was, it was uncomfortable, unnatural…yet not.
“I have to go.”
Mason narrowed his eyes. “Why?”
“I, er, I’m supposed to meet someone.” That was partially true.
“You set up a date after our scene?” The incredulity in his tone almost made her wince. The angry glint in his eyes made her want to explain.
“No. I have a friend. Viola. She knows I’m here. It’s a safety thing.” The tick in his jaw had her scrambling to finish. “I-I wasn’t sure what all would happen tonight, and she was worried about me. She insisted I meet up with her afterward, or she told me she’d have the cops bust down the door and come searching for me.” Again, partially true, but true enough.
Mason took a deep breath. “I see. But here’s another lesson for you. Recovery time isn’t just for the sub. You need to be held and comforted just as much as I need to do those things for you. It’s part of building that trust between us.”
She swallowed as she looked up at him. Did he expect them to bond over this? He’d let another man beat her ass, and then he’d fucked her while she was strapped to a bench. She might’ve wanted it at the time, but now that the haze of lust had lifted, she was able to think a little clearer. She refused to think about how much she’d wanted him earlier, or how sexy he was, or how being in his arms made her feel. Right now, she just wanted to leave.
He sighed. “Okay, pet. This is enough for one night. Next time, don’t make plans afterward. I don’t like being rushed, but I applaud your friend’s safety instincts.”
“Um, she’ll want a timeline,” Shelby quickly said. She couldn’t just give this man an indefinite amount of time. She might be new to this BDSM stuff, but the next scene was supposed to be bondage, which implied being tied up. No way was she going to let him tie her up for hours on end with no fallback plan.
You were just bound to a spanking bench for lord knows how long. Again with the voice in her head. She shut it out too. Thinking about that stuff would make her actually accept what had happened. It was better to ignore it. At least until she got out of this man’s arms.
“Too bad, Shelby. You’ll have to trust me to protect you. If you don’t want to try, then we’ll call an end to this right now.” He licked his lips and lowered his head. “Is that what you want?”
She shivered. What was this man doing to her? No, she was not going there right now. She’d do nothing but think—obsess, really—once she left. But maybe she could get a little something out of him, a nugget of information at least, so she could focus on that rather than the events that had happened. Doubtful, but she was desperate.
“No,” she answered. “But are you going to tell me anything about you, or is that something that’s off limits?” She heard the sarcastic edge to her voice, but right now, she couldn’t control her conflicting emotions. She’d just had sex with a man she hardly knew. In a sex club, tied to a bench, while being spanked. With a possible criminal. And she’d wanted it. Begged for it. She shuddered. No matter how hard she tried not to contemplate what had happened, her mind—and body—were demanding it. She was losing the battle very quickly, and that was assuming she had a fighting chance to begin with.
God, she should’ve just left without opening her mouth. Apparently, her obsessive thoughts weren’t going to wait for their assault on her psyche.
He smiled. And what a sexy-ass smile it was. “What would you like to know, Shelby?”
Damn him for being so attractive.
“Um, well, any man I’ve dated—not that we’re dating,” she added quickly. “Just any man I’ve seen in a romantic capacity at all, I’ve at least known what he does for a living.” She shrugged, hoping she sounded nonchalant.
“Fair enough. I’m an investment broker.”
Okay. This she could do. Focus on the conversation. She wrinkled her nose. “That sounds positively boring.”
He laughed, a genuine sound she hadn’t heard from him before. “You think that’s bad? I also do the accounting for this club. My partners seem to think investment and accounting go hand-in-hand.”
She smiled as she digested the information. He did the accounting for the club. That was very interesting. “What do you mean by partners?” Although she knew the answer to that based on the investigation file on him, and could find just about anything on him with a few computer searches, but small talk could lead to helpful
