Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 82746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Anthony smiled. “I’m sure so.” He lifted a brow. “Where is Ellen now?”
“Oh, uh,” Damon said, looking around the office as if she might suddenly appear. “We said our goodbyes already. She disappeared down a set of stairs.”
“The slave quarters,” Anthony supplied. “That’s where our unattached staff slaves and trainees have their rooms.” He pulled out his cell from his trousers pocket. “I’ll let Jaime know she’s here. The two of them developed a rapport during Ellen’s time as a trainee.”
After tapping out a message, Anthony slipped the phone back into his pocket. “If it’s not too personal, what are your plans now? I mean, regarding Ellen?” There was definitely something fatherly in Anthony’s tone, reminding Damon uncomfortably of the dad of a girl he’d dated in high school who liked to pull him aside and drill him about “his intentions.”
“We left it kind of open-ended,” he replied vaguely. “Like I told you before, I’m super busy with my work right now. I haven’t taken an entire week off like this in… I don’t know how long.”
“I get it,” Anthony replied. “I did the same thing when I was young. I was way too busy and important to think about things like relationships,” he added with an ironic smile. “I was in finance. Working sixteen-hour days was standard practice. I made an obscene amount of money but had no time to enjoy it. Not to mention, I had no time for anything else, for what really matters—for love. I didn’t marry until later in life, and even then, I spent more time away from my wife than with her. We only had nine years together before she died, far too young, from ovarian cancer. I vowed then, if I ever found love again, that I wouldn’t take it for granted, not ever.”
He stroked the gold band on his ring finger and gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Even with such lofty promises to myself, it took me a while to figure out I was in love with Lucia, and she with me. I know I’m generalizing here, but we men tend to fear love because we’re not as brave as women, not as willing to open our hearts. Which is the ultimate travesty, since in the end, love is all there is.”
Anthony shook his head, chuckling. “Men can be incredibly dense when it comes to matters of the heart. Just ask any woman.”
“I’d rather not,” Damon said with a laugh. “Some questions are better left unanswered.”
Chapter 25
Thank goodness she made it down the stairs before she started to cry. There appeared to be no one in the slave quarters at the moment, for which she was glad. She didn’t want anyone to see her like this. Ellen had always prided herself on her self-control. All the other trainees in her group had broken down at least once over the course of the intensive Enclave training, but not Ellen. She knew how to handle her emotions. She could take whatever the Masters had dished out, bringing all her submissive grace to the fore.
But now that self-control was rapidly slipping away. She fell onto a sofa in the rest area and dropped her head into her hands as the dam broke. She sobbed in great, gulping breaths, shoulders heaving, tears and snot running down her face.
She’d thought something real was happening between them. Had she only been fooling herself all along?
His patronizing words in the car replayed in a loop in her head as she wept.
You deserve a Master who can dedicate himself to you, 24/7, and I sincerely hope you find him.”
He might as well have said, “Catch ya later. Have a nice life.” Because, clearly, that’s what he meant.
“Who knows? Maybe we’ll meet up at Lair Sade some time.”
“Well, fuck that, and fuck you, Damon Miller,” she blurted aloud between sobs.
The spurt of righteous anger felt better than the aching sorrow and she seized it like a lifeline.
Right up to the last minute, she’d actually believed, foolishly, stupidly, that Master Damon would realize that he’d made a terrible mistake. A week was a ridiculously short time together, especially given their powerful connection. Pulling her into his arms, he would explain between passionate kisses that he’d been a fool—nothing was more important than her and their burgeoning love…
Idiot, she furiously chided herself as the tears continued to fall. You’ve been reading too many romance novels.
He’d told her from the beginning he wasn’t interested in anything more than their week together. Why had she believed she could somehow change the outcome? Why had she allowed herself to fantasize that he would have a sudden change of heart?
It was her own damn fault. The scene they’d shared that night at The Enclave had blinded her to reality. She should have followed her gut and refused the placement. She should have asked Master Anthony if it was possible to be placed with one of the remaining Doms who actually wanted something more than a week of BDSM play.