Read Bared for Free Online

destroyed it. As if the years he’d played with Cora meant nothing. The trust they’d built didn’t exist. As her Dom, he had failed to read her correctly.
    That was unacceptable.
    Presley slid her hands down her legs, avoiding his gaze. “Well, you see …”
    Aidan shoved his hands into his pockets, controlling the tremble in his arms. When she continued to stammer, he scanned the dungeon. The one Dom he sought he couldn’t find. Turning to Presley, he asked with a clipped voice, “Where’s Master Dmitri?”
    Her warm emerald eyes widened. “Oh, God, no, please don’t involve him. I’ll tell you something …” She blinked rapidly, licking her lips. “I … err … well, I …”
    Aidan watched her continued avoidance, and he sighed. “Did you say something that hurt Cora’s feelings?”
    Presley’s posture stiffened with her glare. “Of course not! I’m her best friend. I would never do that!”
    Her sharp snap raised Aidan’s eyebrows. Right now, he didn’t care if he’d insulted her. His thoughts weren’t centered on logic. Cora is hurting . “Tell me, then, why was she so sad?”
    “She wasn’t sad,” Presley retorted in a soft voice. “She seemed annoyed at me.”
    Lies!
    No flames of anger raged through Cora’s lovely eyes. Torment, longing, and despair were what he recognized. Emotions he knew all too well. His chest heaved at the thought that she suffered. Cora was a ball of sunshine in what could be a dark world. “What was she annoyed about, then?”
    Presley eyed the exit. “Oh, so, she …”
    His inhale through his nose did nothing to ease his tension. “Presley, if you want Master Dmitri to stay out of this, you have thirty seconds to answer me.”
    She gulped, glancing to the ceiling. “Okay, thirty seconds.” Her fingers thumbed against her bare thigh. “Um … all right, Cora …”
    Aidan yanked his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms, watching her ramble. If Presley were his submissive, she’d be over his lap so fast with her ass turning bright red. “Twenty seconds,” he told her.
    Her face scrunched. “Err …”
    He continued to count down as he fought through ideas for why he’d seen what he had tonight. He questioned if maybe Cora needed more aftercare. Did he leave her too soon and she dropped emotionally?
    Why did you look so troubled?
    That pain, why is that there?
    By the time he reached ten, he pushed away the thought. Cora had been in the lifestyle for four years. She knew what she needed and when she needed it. He never questioned her before. All the warmth drained from his body, replaced by an ice-cold reality that pieces of her were hidden from him.
    The noise in the club raised the hairs on his nape. He became all too sensitive to the activity around him. How had he failed to miss something so intense? Heat swept over his face, as did tingles.
    What else had he missed?
    Pain formed in his jaw from the clenching of his teeth. He shook his head, blinking into the present. Once Presley finished with another round of sputtered nonsense, he stated, “Time’s up.”
    She cringed. “Please don’t ask me these questions, Master Aidan.”
    “I’ve already asked the question,” he retorted. “Answer it.”
    When she lifted her head, her eyes widened at something over Aidan’s shoulder. “Oh, shit. I’m so, so dead.”
    “Problem?”
    Aidan glanced over his shoulder, discovering Dmitri. His blue eyes narrowed on his submissive. While Aidan noticed Dmitri’s concern for Presley, she wasn’t the source of Aidan’s alarm. “It’s Cora.”
    Dmitri gave Presley a quick once-over before he turned to Aidan. “What about Cora?”
    “I found her a moment ago, very upset,” he said.
    “Upset?” Dmitri asked, his posture mirroring the tension Aidan suffered. “Is everything all right?”
    “I haven’t a clue.” Aidan gestured to Presley. “Which is exactly what I’ve been trying to find out. Presley has been”—he hesitated,