“But I do it because…because I don’t—can’t—share.” Don’t hate me. I don’t want you to hate me.

“I know that.” His voice was so neutral as to be unreadable.

“But I don’t cheat. Cheating is different. I don’t steal or betray my friends or poach boyfriends. And if you ask me if your hips look fat in a dress, I’ll tell you the truth. And—”

When he grinned, she realized what she’d said. A flush crept into her face.

“Next time I go out looking for a nice gown to wear, I’ll know who to take with me,” he said.

Jeez. She looked down and muttered, “You know what I mean.”

He tucked a finger under her chin and lifted. “I know what you mean.” His eyes were the blue of a sunlit Iowa lake. “I want to get you to the point where you can share—honestly. That time will come.”

The relief of his understanding made her eyes swim with tears.

He made a tsk sound, kissed her cheek, rose, and pulled her off the bed. “Time to put you back to work, little apprentice. You’ve lazed about long enough.” Beside the kitchen area was a tall cabinet. Vance opened the three-foot box in front of it. Inside were straps, ropes, gags, spreader bars, blindfolds, and hoods. What every well-equipped dungeon should have. “I want you to put these away neatly in the cabinet.”

Still feeling unsettled, she frowned at him. Boy, this wasn’t much of a schoolgirl role-play, was it? He actually acted as if she was his apprentice. And he was being awfully polite. Bad Dom.

After putting a few items on the shelf, she found the nipple clamps—tons of them. He’d already gone back to painting the wall. So she put some clamps on a shelf. Tossed one at him. No reaction. Put a few more clamps away. Tossed another—aiming for his ass. Fine, fine ass. Hit. No reaction. Put a few more and turned to—

“Eeek!” Heart pounding, she looked up at the man looming over her. Vance’s face was grim, and jeez, how had he gotten so tall? He made her feel like a mouse. “Christ on a pogo stick, give a girl a heart attack, will you?”

He opened his hand, showing her the nipple clamps.

“Uh. Guess I just dropped them. Boss man, sir.” She gave him a simpering smile. “Ooops.”

“I see. Well, seems a waste to not put them to use.” He undid the straps to her overalls, letting the bib flop down, exposing her breasts. He cupped his hand under one, weighing it, his thumb teasing her nipple into a point. “Odd that you’re not wearing a bra—I thought breasts needed some kind of support.”

She stared at him. What kind of a comment was that? “Um. Guess I just forgot. Boss.”

“Well, I don’t have time to let you run home and put one on, so we’ll just have to make do. I wouldn’t want anyone to think we’re not taking good care of our little apprentice.” He picked up two lengths of chain from the box and clipped a nipple clamp on each end of the chains. Four nipple clamps?

“I don’t think I have four breasts, sir,” she said politely. Just trying to be helpful, boss.

“Good to know.” He put a clamp on her left nipple and tightened it right up to where she was starting to sweat. After placing the chain around the back of her neck, he pulled the flopped-over bib back up and clipped the other end of the chain onto the left edge of the material, using the second nipple clamp.

When he let go, the weight of the heavy denim pulled on the chain…and upward on her breast. “Ow!”

A smile flickered over his lips. And he did the other chain the same way on her right side, running the chain around to the material on the right. Her nipples were now holding the bib of the overalls up. Ow, ow, ow.

And the chains were pulling her nipples in an upward direction.

He grinned. “There, see? Support for your breasts. Maybe I should patent the system.” He turned her around, the movement pulling on her breasts and making her squeak. “Keep working, little apprentice. I’ll give you a break in a couple of hours.”

What? Fuming, her nipples burning as she bent over the box, she considered throwing something really, really heavy at him.

Even worse, she had to pee something awful. She stood up and shifted from foot to foot, hoping he’d notice.

He turned his back on her.

Fine then. She started for the door.

“Sally, you don’t have permission to leave.” He hadn’t even bothered to look at her.

Oh God, if she didn’t get out of here, her bladder was going to explode. “Um.” She couldn’t ask. Dammit. Teeth gritted, she headed for the door.

“Sally, did you need something?”

Saying no…wasn’t an option. “Yes, Sir.” Maybe he’d just tell her to leave?

“Good answer. So, ask.” His gaze met hers. Patient. Understanding. Resolved.

Demon fucking Dom. He was going to pay for pushing her. Her hands were cold, her heart beating too fast as she tried to get the words to come out. Why was it more difficult today? She pulled in a breath. “May I go to the bathroom, Sir?” came out in a rush.

He smiled at her, eyes lightening, and despite her anger, she felt warmed through and through. “Now that’s a good request, sweetheart. Use one in the house and bring us both back some iced tea.”

“Yes, Sir.”

After stopping to pet Glock in the front yard, Galen found Sally in the kitchen, holding two iced teas. And didn’t she just look cute? In the Shadowlands, he’d thought schoolgirl clothing was particularly suited to her bubbly nature. The overalls Vance had found were even better. “Interesting way to hold up your clothes, imp.” He gave a gentle tug on one chain and she winced…and her eyes dilated slightly.

She must have done something naughty to get in this fix. Good. He and Vance had hoped some role-playing might help her get her sass back. “What have you and Vance accomplished in the cabana so far?”

She gave him a slightly disgruntled look. “Painting.”

So was she missing more domination or more sex…or something else? He might start with both and see if her reactions would give him a clue. “Nothing strenuous, eh? I daresay you’ll have enough energy for this.” He unbuttoned his jeans. He’d learned the benefits of going commando when there was a submissive in the house.

He saw the spark of delight in her eyes as well as something he remembered and hadn’t seen enough of. If she was planning mischief, the corners of her eyes tilted up slightly, as if by holding her smile back, her eyes had to do it for her. It had to be the most adorable look he’d ever seen. But…what was the imp up to?

She turned her back to him, putting the glasses of iced tea on the counter. Facing him again, she dropped to her knees. After she pushed her braids out of her face, she enveloped him in sultry heat. Licking and sucking energetically, bobbing her head so energetically that his eyes almost crossed. She was damned good at sucking cock.

When she lifted her mouth away, she kept one hand caressing his balls as she looked up at him. She gave him a little smirk, then rubbed her mouth with her free hand before lowering her head again. She caressed his balls for a bit, building his anticipation, before closing her mouth over his cock.

His heart almost stopped with the shock. His cock felt as if he’d stuck it in the polar ice cap. “Christ!” Grabbing her hair, he pulled her off. As his blood pressure lowered and the roaring in his ears receded, he could hear her giggling. Lovely sound, but not for the right reasons.

Holding ice in her mouth to give her Dom a heart attack during a blowjob wasn’t what he called a well-behaved submissive. Don’t laugh, Kouros. He pressed his lips together. “Okay, Sally. You’ve had your fun.” Holding her in place by her braids, he zipped his jeans with the other hand. Carefully. If he caught himself in the zipper, he was liable to scream like a girl.

She peeked up at him, starting to look a tad bit worried. Smart subbie.

“Eyes down.” He glanced at the two drinks, chock-full of ice. “Didn’t know you liked ice play, pet. But since you do—” He tossed her belly-down over the counter, so her legs dangled. Before she could move, he yanked up her short skirt and secured both it and her with his forearm, putting more weight onto her when she started to squirm.

The tall ceramic jar held a variety of wooden spoons. He picked one up and whapped her ass half-a-dozen times. Quick and hard. His dick perked right up at the satisfying sound of the impact on bare flesh.

Her short scream was almost as fun.

“I’m guessing you felt neglected,” he said, waiting long enough for the burn to decrease before adding another six to her count. “You wanted attention?”

“No.” She gripped the other side of the counter, holding on for dear life. A nice pink began to bloom on her ass. He avoided the places that still held marks from her previous punishment and made a mental note to go lighter with the cane next time. And considering her penchant for brattiness, there would undoubtedly be a next time.

“Your Doms are pleased to give you attention, Sally, but this might be the wrong way to ask for it.” He smiled and dipped his hand in one iced tea glass. “I’ll let you decide.” Pulling out two ice cubes, well rounded and the size of a fingertip, he pushed one in her cunt and took a second to enjoy the shrill scream before he slid the other one into her asshole.