Page 20 of High Reward

Owen leans in and kisses my cheek. “Now I just need you to convince your Dom to forgive me as well.”

“Victor? Don’t you know he’s a big softy now? Of course he’ll forgive you.”

Victor smacks my ass. “Watch it. You still haven’t earned that orgasm, and I can keep up the denial game for weeks.”

“Right,” Owen drawls, “A softy. If you’ll excuse me, I need to do some hacking and catch a rotten bastard.”

When Owen leaves, I realize I didn’t see Zara and Lili leave before him. Victor picks up the jewelry box I’d placed on his desk before Owen interrupted, and hands it to me. “I’m sorry about Owen, butterfly. But I’m proud of you for remaining mostly calm through that. You were very observant, too.”

“Thank you, Sir. I was so scared at first. But then Lili and Zara stood up for me and gave me the courage to stand up for myself.”

He kisses my forehead and stepped back. I look down at my shoes, suddenly feeling sheepish. “I’m sorry for eavesdropping. Please don’t spank me for it this time.”

“Shhh, Grace, you’re forgiven. I’m not going to punish you. Now go find Lili and Zara and let me talk to Owen. I’ll find you if we learn anything new. You have my word.

I kiss his cheek and head for the dungeon with the jewelry box tucked in the pocket of my dress.

Zara and Lili are sitting at a table in the bar laughing when I come in.

Lili spots me and jumps from her chair. “Are you OK, lover?”

“I’m fine, Goddess,” I murmur as she pulls me close. “A misunderstanding that I was able to clear up. And it may have also led to some useful information.”

“Victor better have defended you, or I’m going to kick his ass,” Lili declares as she pulls another chair up to the table.

“He did,” I say with a smile. “Even before you knocked on the door, I could hear him sticking up for me.”

“You’re not going to be punished for eavesdropping, are you?” Zara asks.

“I appreciate the concern, but no. Victor said he’s proud of me. And before Owen interrupted us, we agreed to me wearing a training collar and working my way to earning a personalized one.”

Zara frowns. “Why not just take his collar now? It’s obvious the three of you belong together.”

Lili sits back and observes as I contemplate how to answer. “He would do that if I wanted him to,” I finally say. “But we talked about it, and I like the idea of him training me to serve him,” I pause and meet Lili’s gaze. “And to serve you.”

Lili laughs nervously. “I’m just winging things, sweetheart. If anything, you’re training me.”

I scoff. “If this is you winging it, Goddess, you’re a fucking natural sadist.”

“Sadist? Me?”

I raise an eyebrow at her. “How long have you been edging me today? Sadism doesn’t have to mean physical pain.”

Lili grins. “I guess you’re right.”

Zara claps and leans in as if she’s about to hear juicy gossip from one of her reality shows. “How long has Lili been edging you, Grace?”

“All damn day,” I mutter before relaying the story of the ride into town and the extended tour of the club.

“You poor thing. And then Owen has to go and be an asshole on top of all that.”

She looks at Lili with a mock stern expression. “You and Victor better give her one hell of an orgasm before the night is over.”

Lili shrugs. “That’s up to Grace and ultimately Victor if Grace meets the requirements.”

Zara looks at me with a raised eyebrow.

“Tell Zara what you have to do in order to get an orgasm,” Lili prods.