He continued as her outrage passed, as his fingers started to arouse her. The knowledge that people could see made the heat even worse. He tightened his grip, rubbing her against his erection until her pussy throbbed.

“Daniel.” Master Z’s voice behind her.

Kari stiffened, tried to pull away. Sir’s arm didn’t loosen, and he held her in place until she stopped pushing. Finally, finally, his point made, he released her.

She turned and looked up at Master Z, her face probably as red as a tomato. To her surprise, he had his arm around Jessica. Was Jessica his sub?

“I’m so glad you made it here.” Jessica frowned as her gaze swept over Kari. She shook her head at Master Dan. “I wanted you to give Kari a ride, not to ride her.”

Sir barked a laugh, then said, “Z, your sub’s getting mouthy. Called me an asshole earlier.”

Master Z tilted his head. “Did she now? If she sets such a bad example for our beginners, she will need to demonstrate what follows.” He paused, said reflectively, “I haven’t given a lesson on discipline for some time.”

Jessica froze, her eyes widening. A tremor shook her body.

Smiling slowly, Master Z looked down at Jessica and murmured, “Thank you for the suggestion, Daniel.”

Chuckling, Sir pulled Kari away.

Kari rose up on tiptoe to whisper, “What did he mean by ‘demonstrate’ and ‘a lesson’?”

“Master Z teaches by demonstrating how something should be done.”

Discipline? Oh God, poor Jessica.

Moving through the crowd, Sir kept a hard arm around Kari, and she loved how feminine and protected his strength made her feel. When they reached the bar, she snuggled even closer.

He glanced at her and ran a finger down her cheek. “I like touching you, little sub,” he said, his eyes gentle.

Her breath seemed to stop inside her chest.

But then he grinned and his hand trailed to where the shirt gaped open over her breasts. His voice lowered. “And I also like spanking your ass until it’s a glowing red. And fucking you hard against a wall.”

She put her fingers over his mouth to silence him, but his amused look said he knew how his carnal words sent hunger through her and wet seeping between her legs.

Cullen wandered over and set drinks in front of them. His gaze lingered on her heated face. “A sub for three nights, Dan. That’s gotta be a record.”

She felt Sir’s body stiffen against her as his muscles turned iron hard. “Don’t jump to conclusions,” he growled. “I’m just helping out with beginners’ nights like I promised Z. Nothing else.” His arm dropped.

His words sucked the air right out of Kari’s chest.

Again. Nothing had changed. She turned her face away, her gaze coming to rest on Martha and Gerald across the bar. The old Dom nuzzled his wife, the caring so obvious in his actions that Kari’s lips tightened. Their affection made her realize she’d hoped for that with Dan. Especially after he’d come to get her, and they’d shared so much.

Well, obviously that wasn’t going to happen. How could she keep forgetting he didn’t want anything more than an occasional fucking? She deliberately used the f word, squeezing her hands together so hard the joints ached.

How had she been so delusional? This place wasn’t about love; it was about domination. Pain. Sex. She’d been stupid.

“The sub you’re with tonight isn’t adequately dressed.” Cullen’s lazy tone had turned mean. Was he mad at her or at Sir?

Master Dan glanced at her, his gaze shuttered. “Very true. Got a spare set of cuffs?”

Cullen crossed the bar, opened a cupboard, and returned to thump down leather cuffs.

“Give me your wrists, Kari,” Sir snapped.

She hesitated. Did she even want to be with him tonight? How much of this high and low stuff could she take? Then again, she was just here for the sex. Just the sex. Nothing more.

Mouth tight, she slapped her wrists into his broad hand, ignoring his narrowed eyes.

He buckled the cuffs on, checked for the tightness automatically, his gaze not leaving her face.

She looked away. Just the sex, nothing more.

“Interesting attire, Dan,” Raoul said, sliding onto the bar stool next to where Kari stood. He nodded at the shirt she wore. “Amazingly provocative on her.”

“I like it,” Sir said. He didn’t snap at Raoul, she noticed. “She wasn’t happy.”

“Like anyone would be.” Kari yanked the bottom of the shirt lower and scowled. Damn him anyway. She should have just stayed home. “You can see right through it, and it hardly covers my—”

Raoul raised his eyebrows, and Kari’s breath strangled in her throat. Oh dear Lord. Holding her lip between her teeth, she ventured a look at Master Dan and tried not to cringe at the expression on his face. This wasn’t the hurt man whom she’d hugged in her living room. This was Master Dan, and her fantasy of him had just taken on a nightmarish tinge.

His gaze chilled her right to the bone. “Apparently your modesty weighs more heavily with you than my will. Rather surprising you have any modesty left, considering how you spent a good portion of Wednesday night.” He glanced up at the chains on the rafters.

“I’m sorry, Master. Very sorry.” She lowered her eyes, heart hammering in her chest. Would kneeling help?

“I am sure you are,” he said quietly and started unbuttoning her shirt. Her hands rose instinctively to stop him. His hard look made her drop her arms back to her sides. “Toss me a towel, Cullen,” he said.

He used the towel to cover a bar stool, lifted her onto it, and flipped the shirt open. With unyielding hands, he moved her legs apart until her private parts showed, her brown curls blatantly dark against the white material.

“Please, Master,” she whispered.

“Please is the right word, sub,” he said. “And that’s what you’ll do. Please both yourself and me.” He took her hands, placed them over her breasts. “Play with your breasts until your nipples are as swollen and red as I had them three days ago.”

She shook her head.

“What do you say to me?”

Her fingers flinched as he moved her hands, massaging her breasts, ruthlessly plucking her nipples until fire streaked toward her groin. “Yes, Sir,” she said, unable to look away from his lethal brown eyes.

He stepped away. She tried to move her hands like he wanted and ended up covering her breasts with them instead.

His jaw clenched. “Kari, do what I said, or I’ll lay you out on the bar and use my mouth to do it myself.”

Even as she recoiled, heat flooded her insides, and the towel dampened under her. Sir’s lips curved up mockingly, even though his eyes remained frozen.

Gritting her teeth, she touched her breasts, stroking, pulling on the nipples, pinching them. Club members stopped to watch with appreciative looks before smiling at Master Dan. Eyes half-lidded, Cullen propped an elbow on the bar, acting like he was at a movie. Kari raised her chin and looked away.

When Master Dan turned his back on her, she continued, her hands trembling as embarrassment seared her again and again with each laugh and half-heard comment. Buck—oh, God, Buck—started to approach, then stopped. He shot Dan a nasty look and moved away.

When Master Dan finally checked on her, he frowned. Nudging her hand away, he took a nipple between his fingers, pinching and rolling with increasing force until pain, then pleasure, shot through her, hammering into her clit. Her breath sucked in.

“That hard,” he said coldly. “Last warning, sub.”

She nodded miserably. Closing her eyes to shut out the world, she touched herself. Harder, faster. To her shock, her body roused; her pussy ached as her breasts swelled and tightened. Her nipples moved past sensitive to throbbing need.

Hands closed on her wrists, held her immobile. She opened her eyes. “Master?”

“You can stop now, Kari.”

Her hands fell to her sides, shaking. Her lips quivered.

He studied her, and the hardness eased from his face. His brown eyes warmed. He rubbed his knuckles over her jutting nipples, and she sucked in an audible breath at the gentle abrasion. “Now that’s a very pretty color,” he said. His smile sent pleasure through her, melting the lump in her chest and almost making her forget why she’d been so mad at him.

He tilted her chin up to pin her with his gaze. “Whose body is this tonight, sub?”

“Yours, Master.”

“If this body is mine and I want to show it off, should you be embarrassed?”

“No, Sir.”

He nodded. “Good enough for now. You did well.” After buttoning her shirt, he cupped her cheek so gently that her eyes puddled with tears. “Kari, I should let you go. I know that, and you know that. You deserve a Dom who can give you more than a night here and there.”

If she’d been standing, she would have fallen. Instead she firmed her spine and curled a hand around his wrist, resting her fingertips on the hard tendons. “I’m here tonight for the sex. Nothing more.”

He could undoubtedly read the lie in her face, but he didn’t challenge her. “So be it.” He turned her bar stool to face the bar and tucked an arm around her waist.

The warmth of his touch made her tremble inside fully as much as she shook outside.