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one of the curtained
alcoves.
    She wasn’t actually cold, but she didn’t complain. He was
coddling her and she loved snuggling.
    Velvet rustled behind them. The drapes enclosed them in a
four-by-eight, private chamber. She was alone with a powerful Dom. For a moment
she fought panic.
    Indirect lighting added a romantic glow to the private
niche. Music from strings, bows and flutes played a poignant melody in the
distance. Laughter, shrieks of pleasure and the hum from dozens of
conversations were only slightly muted by the drapes. If she needed help all
she had to do was yell “red”, the dungeon’s universal safeword.
    A gothic bench, upgraded by plush cushions, took up most of
the space. Liam lowered himself to the wooden couch and settled her on his lap.
He cupped one breast and then the other in his warm palms, easing the ache
until she sighed and melted into his heat. He wrapped the fleece more snugly
around her and held her close.
    The solid comfort of his broad chest and the
perfect-for-her-head spot under his chin seduced her into burrowing into his
hard, hot body. Under the soft cotton of his shirt, thick pads of chest muscle
cushioned her cheek. Beneath her ear, Master Liam’s heart thudded in a steady rhythm
of reassurance.
    She was alone with a strong Dom and she’d forgotten to be
afraid.
    He shifted her carefully and tipped her chin to meet his
eyes. “Warm enough?”
    “Yes Sir.” She dropped her lashes, unable to hold the
intensity in his gaze.
    He kept her chin tilted until their gazes tangled. “When
it’s just us, I want your eyes on me. It helps me gauge what’s going on in your
head.”
    Her jaw loosened into a middle-school girl’s crushing gape
at the implications that there was an “us” and they would share future alone
times.
    “You may ask questions.”
    He expects me to look at him and form intelligent
questions at the same time? She focused on his sensuous lips, closed her
mouth and swallowed. “Why have you been away from the club, Sir?”
    Her gaze skirted around his face, avoiding the dark orbs
that seemed to see right through her skin. The crinkles at the corners of his
eyes tightened and smoothed. There was no trace of paler skin to mark frequent
smiles and shared laughter.
    “Two reasons, business and a lack of pleasure.”
    Intuitively she sensed a test in his clipped response. She
wanted to ask what had happened to his former slave, but didn’t have enough
nerve to probe deeper. She sought another conversational prompt.
    The steady, low-level buzz from the vibrator made it hard
for her to concentrate. Long moments passed in thickening silence without her
finding a single safe topic. She was so bad at this. Master Lewis was right. She
was pushing too fast too soon.
    “Last spring I quit topping a longtime slave and needed some
distance.” Old pain buffeted his sparse explanation.
    His volunteered information warmed her, more so because
something told her he didn’t explain himself often. This wasn’t easy for him
either. She heard the hurt in his tone and empathized. “Releasing her hurt you,
Sir.”
    “You’re kind. The truth is I couldn’t give her what she
needed. There’s nothing worse than failing a submissive who has given you her
trust.”
    Certainty overrode Tiana’s caution, making her braver. “You
would have never deliberately failed her. Sometimes circumstances are beyond
anyone’s control, even a Master’s, Sir.”
    “Not an easy fact to accept.” One corner of his mouth tugged
into a crooked, bleak smile. “I won’t repeat the mistake.”
    He’s going to dismiss me . Disappointment
leached most of her nerve. She shivered, bracing for his rejection. With a
spurt of courage, she reminded him, “You said I could ask questions, Sir.”
    “True.” His harsh features softened. “I didn’t expect you to
ask such tough ones.” He tilted her head and lowered his, bringing their mouths
into perfect alignment. He held her in place—their lips