Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 63970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
She was an idiot.
“You want to make a guess?” Big Tag stood beside her, looking out over the Doms. “I know they’re wearing masks, but those come off tomorrow night. I’m wondering if you can even come close to the guy you were with last night. By the way, according to Kai, the two of you are damn near a perfect match. You really want to give that up?”
She looked at the Doms, each hot in their own way. And then she saw him. He was standing, facing her direction, but he wasn’t focused on her. He was talking to another Dom.
He was such an idiot. The man had literally spent seven years of his life wearing a mask on TV. Oh, this one was bigger than the little green mask he’d worn on Dart, but did he honestly think she wouldn’t know that jawline anywhere? She’d watched every flipping episode about two hundred times. She knew exactly what Jared Johns looked like in a mask.
“Is that…” Kori began.
“Hey, no talking,” Big Tag interrupted.
“It’s Jared.” He was here. He might have walked away this afternoon, but he was here tonight, and he’d obviously gone to a lot of trouble to “trick” her into seeing him.
Was she supposed to be mad? He had tried to manipulate her. Not tried really. He had manipulated her into seeing him the night before. The idea that he didn’t know who she was barely crossed her mind. Kai had put them together. He potentially could not have told either of them, but then Jared hadn’t mentioned coming to Sanctum this afternoon. She’d talked about it, but he’d been silent. Nope, this was one big play to get her back.
She could only be mad at that if she didn’t truly want him.
“Well, I didn’t have high hopes of it working,” Big Tag said with a sigh. He stepped in front of her, his blue eyes grave as he looked down. “Do you want me to throw him out? This is your home, Sarah. He’s the interloper here. You should know he was very adamant about leaving if you didn’t truly want him here.”
“Don’t tell him I know.” She couldn’t make herself stop looking at him. She leaned over so she could see around Big Tag’s body. He was so beautiful and he was here. Was that all she’d really needed? The acknowledgment that he would work to get her? “I don’t know what I want from him.”
“Then find out,” Charlotte said quietly. “He’s put you in a position where you don’t have to talk about the future or the past. You can live in the now for a few days. You can pretend there’s nothing but what’s going on today.”
That sounded perfect.
“I’ll stay.”
All three heads turned her way.
Kori’s jaw had dropped. “Isn’t this the point where you flip your shit about him tricking you? You need to know I had nothing to do with this. Kai didn’t tell me a thing.”
“Or I can view it as he worked really hard to get me here and I was a little on the stubborn side, and maybe I should take this chance and see what happens.” She knew her bestie hadn’t tricked her. Kai had been smart not to tell his wife because Kori wasn’t the world’s best secret keeper. “I think I want to dance tonight.”
“Now that I did not expect,” Big Tag said.
It was good to know she could still surprise him.
Chapter Eight
In which our heroine dances…and our hero discovers a magic wand…
Sultry music thudded through the dungeon, the signal that it was time to begin.
Frustration was the only thing that thudded through Jared’s system. He hadn’t been allowed to go behind the filmy curtains that separated the Doms from the subs and find Sarah. He’d been told he had to wait and that to do anything less would make him a drama llama douche bag, and he didn’t want to be that, did he?
He bet Big Tag would walk right through those curtains, find his lady and…do what? Break her heart again? Tell her “hey, I’m a douche canoe liar who forgets what Me Too means and won’t take no for an answer.”
His stomach knotted because he was afraid this would be his last time with her. If she got pissed—and that would be a reasonable reaction—he would have to walk away. He’d promised Kai.
“Sit down.” Big Tag sank onto the largest of the big throne-like chairs. He gestured to the one beside him. “Relax. The key is to act like everything is working out exactly like you planned. Even when you fuck up. Trust me. I’ve accidently pulled pins on grenades before. You lob it somewhere and act like you meant to blow that shit up.”
“It’s my life I’m blowing up,” Jared complained.
“Nah.” Tag waved the thought off. “Your life is a mess already. You’re just trying new shit. Nothing shameful about that.” He clapped his hands and the room went quiet with the exception of the sensual music. “All right, we’re going to get this party started. Now my Charlie is explaining the rules of this game to the lovely concubines and I’m going to give it straight to you sultans. First of all, a piece of advice. When you get married, don’t let your wives read that romantic crap because that’s why we’re here pretending to be sultans. Just keep ’em away from it. Women who read science fiction…well, we’d probably be aliens or some shit. Let’s face it, women who read are creative and kinky as fuck, so just marry one and understand you’ll be doing some weird shit. Now, tonight the sub you were with last night gets to make the decision on whether to move forward. He or she will be brought out and shown to you and then they will either dance for you or explain sweetly that they’ve chosen not to move forward. You’re then free to take off the mask and go party like you’re single again. The other half of the dungeon is open for free play, and the lounge is fully stocked and ready for drinking. If you’re sad and don’t want to play, Li and Simon are down in the locker room watching soccer, and no I won’t call it football. If your partner dances for you, feel free to do any and all of the above, except the soccer part. Do not do that. The sub will realize he or she made a mistake. There are several scenes ready to go once the selections have been made, and there are privacy rooms for the super horny, I-want-to-do-it-with-a-person-in-a-mask crowd. Or you can free-range fuck. I don’t care. Just clean up after yourselves.”