On Her Master's Secret Service (Masters and Mercenaries #4)(61)

She sank down with him, her every move pure precision and grace. She’d fought so hard to gain her agility again. For the longest time he would wince every time he saw her practicing, a reminder of how he’d failed her.

But he needed to take his guilt out of the equation. Eve sank into a perfect slave pose. The new Alex had a sudden insight. It wasn’t a reminder of what she’d lost. It was an example of how f*cking strong his wife was. She hadn’t let Evans take this part of her life.

They had both had a hand in letting Evans tear them apart. He’d spent years blaming the wrong people for their divorce. He’d allowed it.

He’d forgotten he was the Dom.

He held a hand out, presenting her to the company. “This is how my slave is to greet her Master. It reminds her always of her position. She is to serve me.” To love me. To give me a reason to live. To honor me with her trust.

But he stopped at serve because these men wouldn’t understand the true beauty of the power exchange. But he knew one thing they would understand. They would understand the beauty of his submissive.

“Get on the chair, pet.”

He couldn’t miss the way her face flushed. She was nervous, but he knew damn well she wasn’t going to falter. Her eyes had dilated. She was getting aroused at the thought of discipline even in front of a group of men she didn’t know. She’d always been an exhibitionist and unashamedly so.

She kept her head bowed as she moved to the whipping chair. It wasn’t up to his standards, but it would have to do. He couldn’t exactly stop this brutal little exchange to explain that his sub was far too precious to use a substandard bench.

Still, his cock hardened the minute she placed herself across the bench. It was tilted in a way that brought her ass high in the air. The main part of the chair was a leather flat that ran the length of her torso but still gave Alex access to her * as it stopped right in the middle of her pelvis. He’d situated the chair to the side where the audience could see what he was going to do. They would be able to see the curves of her backside, but the sight of her naked * was only for him.

Her arms were placed on twin appendages that ran on either side of the chair, mirroring the ones for her legs.

“My pet is well trained,” Alex explained. “She will remain where I have placed her until such time as I allow her to move, but I am going to tie her down today for the purposes of this scene. A not so well-trained sub would require this.”

One of the “gentlemen” chuckled. “Certainly couldn’t have one getting away.”

Sean stood at the back of the room. No one seemed to have noticed that he hadn’t gone back to the kitchen. No. Not a single man was looking anywhere but exactly where Alex wanted them to look.

“Perhaps you gentlemen would prefer to stand. From your position now, you won’t be able to see my lovely pet’s skin as she takes my discipline.” He needed them standing up to prove his point.

Without hesitation, they rose.

He hated this. It was different at Sanctum. At Sanctum, everyone knew the rules. People knew what was expected of them. At Sanctum, showing off his sub was a thing of great pride for both Master and submissive.

Here, it was a necessity. This was why he hadn’t wanted to bring Eve with him.

She turned her face up slightly and gave him a little wink and a wiggle of that gorgeous ass of hers.

She was stronger than he gave her credit for. She knew the job, and he couldn’t have a better partner. His misgivings were about his possessive nature and not any damn weakness in his sub. His sub, his love, was the strongest person he knew. A well of strength opened in Alex. They could do this. They could do it together.

He didn’t hesitate again. He flipped her little skirt up. She’d been a very good pet. She wasn’t wearing any panties. Yeah, now he had their attention. Eve had the most gorgeous ass on the planet. No man could possibly look away.

And if a single one of the f*ckers tried to touch her, they would find their hands on the floor and detached from their bodies.

He patted her gorgeous ass before moving to tie her hands. He made quick work. Eve often liked to be tied up. They had struggled with it at first. She’d spat out her safe word every time he’d tried to tie her down, but she’d kept at it. She’d insisted on trying every session until she could stand it again.

Holy f*ck. Eve had been trying to tell him. Eve had been working through all her problems, and he’d seen it as nothing but a burden to be borne.

She’d been trying. How had he not seen that?

He paid special attention, making sure there was no way he could chafe her skin. He heard her sigh as he cinched the silk against her skin.

What the f*ck had he been doing all this time? She trusted him. She’d shown him an awesome amount of trust. She’d put her body in his care even after they’d divorced. She had tied him up in a million rules and restrictions, but now he saw that for what it was. She’d been pushing him to see how far he would let his guilt take him. Every rule she’d placed on him had been a plea for him to push back, for him to be her Dom, to be the man she’d married.

And he’d been a complete *. He’d let his fear rule him. He’d let his need to give in to his guilt push away the most precious thing in his life. She’d been practically screaming for him and he’d been in stasis.

He wasn’t going to fail her again. She talked about some new Alex, but she needed the old one. She needed the real Dom that had been sleeping inside him for so long.