Page 40 of Pierced

When I’m done explaining things I walk back over to the cage, open the door, and uncuff him, leaving the restraints attached to the bar. I grab him by the hair, fist it, gripping tight, and pull him forward until he understands that I want him out of the cage.

He crawls, looking up at me.

God, my heart is beating so fast.

“You may stand,” I say.

He does.

I remove the ball gag and drop it onto the tray set aside for used items. “Any questions?” I ask.

“When do we start?” he says, smiling.

“We’re done for tonight.”

“What?” He laughs. “You’re kidding.”

“Your mistress does not joke when she’s in the dungeon.”

“But…” He looks down. Which makes me look down. He’s hard. There’s no way to miss it.

“Not tonight,” I say, forcing my eyes back up. “Now put your clothes back on and leave.”

I want to die right now. Because tomorrow morning I have to walk into work and see this man outside of my pleasure room. And that is not how this game is usually played. Things are kept separate. The lifestyle never meets real life. Not when I play.

God, I did not think this through. At all.

I walk over to a red velvet couch and sit down, crossing my long legs seductively because Pierce is watching.

I watch him back.

I watch him pull on his pants. Shrug on his shirt. Button all those expensive little buttons. I watch him fasten his belt, and put on his shoes, and pick up his coat. And when he’s all put back together he smiles at me. “So. Same time tomorrow?”

“Same time tomorrow,” I reply back. “Now leave.”

He turns to go, but then he turns back. “Myrtle?”

“What?”

“Can I ask you one thing?”

“What?”

“What is this place?”

“My dungeon.”

“No. This house.”

“Oh,” I say, looking at him. He seems… at ease now. All traces of panic and fear gone. God, did I ever get him wrong. “It’s a big cat sanctuary,” I say. “My father was a lion tamer in the circus before I was born. Then he trained tigers and lions for movies. Then he opened up the main sanctuary up north. That’s where most of them go. The ones people get for pets and then decide they’re not really pet material when they eat the family dog. But this is our family estate. He turned it into a retirement center for the older performing cats so they could live out their days being pampered. Sebastian was never going to eat you. He’s as tame as they come.”

Pierce chuckles a little as he turns to the stairs, slowly walking up. But he stops halfway and says, “I know.”

CHAPTER TWELVE - PIERCE

“I got dominated last night, dude.”

I know I thought that I would never tell someone what I did last night if they asked, but Andrew didn’t ask. I just find myself unexpectedly excited to share the news with my old friend.