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I took a deep breath, wrapped one hand around her delicate foot. Then I lifted it, placing a kiss at the soft pad of flesh beneath her toes. She gave a soft gasp, her eyes darkening momentarily before she pulled herself out of my grasp. Great, that distracting technique wasn’t going to work either.
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I sighed, sifting through the torrent of memories I didn’t really want to relive. ‘We met at a party in London. She’s an event planner, but her clients tend to be more on the risqué side of entertaining.’
‘She throws sex parties?’
‘Not always, but yeah, some of the time. She said all the right things, made all the right moves. We went out a few times and then things got...serious.’
‘How serious?’
‘I asked her to move in with me.’
She nodded, encouraged me to go on.
‘Then the cracks began to appear. It started off by her telling me she didn’t want to role play any more.’
Graciela frowned. ‘Role play?’
‘That’s what she called it.’
‘She thought it was agame?’
Bitterness drenched my mouth. ‘Apparently. She’d been biding her time, hoping I’d snap out of it.
When I pushed her on it, she confessed she’d read a few books, watched videos and used what she’d
seen at her parties to expand her knowledge.’
‘Bloody hell,’ Graciela muttered under her breath. ‘Where the hell did she do her research? The
fucking children’s library? Because the first real Dom or sub she met would’ve told her this isn’t a damned game! That you don’t simply play at it.’
‘She was convinced she could make me happy. As long as we had regular sex like anormal couple
and only did the Dom/sub thing on occasion.’
‘My God. I kinda want to do...bodily harm,’ she bit out, her breath hissing before she regained
control. I was touched by that reaction. Ashamed to admit that I’d been looking for those signs of
outrage, signs that she understood that this was as vital and necessary to me as breathing. Seeing her reaction only made me want her more.
‘You trusted her?’ she asked, her tone gentle with sympathy. ‘Enough to surrender yourself to her?
You must’ve or you wouldn’t be...’ She stopped and I was grudgingly grateful she didn’t spell out
what a fool I’d been taken for.
Still, bitterness flayed me, gouging deep at the soul-searing betrayal. ‘Like I said, she walked the walk, convincingly enough to believe she had enough to achieve her ultimate goal.’
Graciela frowned. ‘Which was what?’
I paused, unwilling to admit that last piece of Stephanie’s deplorable intentions for the simple fact that I’d never seen it coming. But...what the hell? ‘She ingratiated herself into the lifestyle merely to land herself a meal ticket either through a husband with a fat wallet or blackmail.’
Graciela jerked upright. ‘She blackmailed you?’
My nod felt jerky, my emotions ragged and raw. ‘Her next move after I threw her out was an email