“Orange. Fuck, yellow.”

She felt a little bad for saying it, but decided it was more important he knew.

His fingers didn’t stop. “Open your eyes, kitten. Look at me.”

When she met his gaze, he was smiling. “You’re doing so well. Keep your eyes on me.” His fingers moved deeper, his thumb brushed harder, and his eyes pierced her with their intensity. She couldn’t look away. “Keep watching me. That’s it. Good girl. A little bit more and you’re going to come.”

It built inside her, swirling, wave after wave, almost crashing. Caught between his gaze and his fingers, she let it come and sweep her along. He pushed three fingers inside and with a final rough swipe to her clit, she came with a yelp, her release made all the more powerful by the strain to be still.

As her cl**ax passed, she closed her eyes and sighed. Bliss. Her entire body felt completely blissed out. She never wanted to leave the table. The feeling only intensified as Daniel started stroking her arms.

He gently pried her hands free from the straps. “Let go, kitten.”

She had no idea she’d been grasping them so tightly until he helped her flex her fingers.

He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Can you sit up?”

She slowly worked herself into a sitting position and Daniel moved so that he stood at the foot of the table, between her legs. He lightly placed his hands on her upper thighs.

“How do you feel?” he asked.

“Mmm,” she hummed. “Weightless and floaty.”

He dug his fingers into her hair, massaging her scalp. She nearly purred.

“I lied, you know,” she said.

She didn’t realize the impact of her words until she saw the shock cross his face. Even then his voice was calm when he replied. “Lied about what, kitten?”

She turned her head into his hand and brushed her lips across his palm. “About not being putty.”

He laughed. “Oh?”

“I’m complete putty in your hands.”

He lowered his head and whispered against her lips, “I’d hoped that might be the case,” before capturing her lips with his.

• • •

Julie thought it might have just been her imagination, but something seemed off with Sasha. Maybe it was her relationship with Peter, though things appeared to be moving right along on that front. It just didn’t seem normal for Sasha not to beg for every detail of Julie’s weekend with Daniel.

Late Thursday afternoon, Sasha was making calls in the back when the front door chimed. Julie swallowed a groan. She wanted to get home, curl up on the couch, and talk to Daniel. They’d been chatting by phone every night and met for lunch on Tuesday. The more and more she got to know Daniel and spend time with him, the more she was willing to admit to herself that she was falling for him. When you paired that with what she was learning about her craving to submit? It made her shiver thinking about how everything seemed to be falling into place.

Unfortunately, before she could talk with Daniel, she had to deal with the late-arriving customer.

Julie stopped cold in the middle of the room when she saw who it was.

Dena, the submissive she’d seen at the group meeting, stood before her. The one Daniel was quick to call for help. The one who called him “Master Covington.”

One look at the tall blonde walking into her shop proved she wasn’t the only one who remembered.

“Oh, it’s you,” Dena said, with a thinly veiled curiosity and a tilt to her head. “I’m here to see Sasha.”

“She’s on the phone, but she’ll be out soon.”

Julie looked the willowy woman over quickly. She didn’t have a collar on, and a glance at her wrist showed no cuff.

Dena smiled as if she knew what Julie was doing. “I’m unattached right now.”

“Sorry,” Julie said. “I didn’t know I was that obvious. I’m new.”

“Dena,” the blonde said, sticking out her hand. “I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself at the meeting.”

“Julie,” she said, shaking the offered hand.

The conversation died there and they stood in an uncomfortable silence. Too many thoughts were crowding in Julie’s head all at once. What was the history between Daniel and Dena? Assuming there was history. Why was it Dena had never stopped by to see Sasha before?

And speaking of her friend, what was taking Sasha so long?

Dena still watched her with a curious expression.

“Have I grown a third head?” Julie finally said. “Because I’m pretty sure you’ve seen a submissive woman or two before.”

Dena laughed. “Sorry, it’s just—” She shook her head. “I had to see.”

“See what?”

“We’re a close group, those of us who’ve been around for a while. You’ll have to forgive us if we gossip.” She leaned over and whispered, “The Doms are the worst.”

Julie lifted an eyebrow. Dena hadn’t answered the question.

“You’re gorgeous and you have spunk. No wonder he’s so taken with you.”

Dena’s words hit her so hard, Julie actually took a step backward. “Daniel? Gossips?”

“No, not Daniel,” Dena said with a wave of her hand. “But some of the others are like old women. Just don’t tell them I said that, it’ll be our little secret.”

Julie smiled. She had a feeling she would get along just fine with Dena. “Let’s start over. Hi, I’m Julie. Why don’t we sit down and you tell me about yourself, because you obviously know everything about me.”

Dena put her hands on her hips. “Damn, I like you.”

Julie laughed and motioned to a bench.

“I went by Daniel’s late Sunday,” Dena said, walking over to the bench and sitting down. “Daniel’s mentoring a new Dom and asks me to help out sometimes. We normally meet on Saturday, but somebody was busy and pushed the session to Sunday.”

He had mentioned he had a meeting. Funny, Julie thought it had to do with bank business.

“There had been whispers after the last group meeting. About you.” Dena shrugged. “So after the Sunday night session, I asked him.”

Julie’s hands felt sweaty and she pressed her palms against her thighs. “What’d he say?”

“That the next time I asked about his personal life, I’d spend some quality time on his whipping bench. That’s when I knew he was serious. Always before he’d shrug and say it was nothing.”

Julie didn’t know what to say to that. She’d only recently accepted that she was falling for the sensual Dominant. To hear he might feel the same . . .

“Sasha’s coming over to my apartment for dinner,” Dena said. “You should come, too.”

“Say yes, Jules,” Sasha said from the doorway to the back room, looking slightly flushed. “It’ll be good. We can have submissive girl chats.” Then she turned to their visitor. “Sorry to keep you waiting, Dena. That was Peter.” She looked at Julie. “So, you in?”

It didn’t take much thinking for her to decide. After all, she could talk to Daniel on the phone from anywhere.

• • •

Julie wasn’t sure what Dena did for a living, but the woman had excellent taste in wine. They breezed through the first bottle during dinner and opened a second while they sat around Dena’s living room.

“Daniel’s your first Dom?” Dena asked, returning to a conversation touched on during dinner. At Julie’s nod, she continued. “Lucky bitch. First guy I submitted to was a grade A as**ole.”

“Then why did you do it?” Julie asked.

“Because as bad as it was, it was better than anything I’d done before.”

Julie wasn’t so sure nothing wouldn’t be better. “At least you knew and admitted what you needed. You weren’t like me, sitting around, wondering, and too afraid to do anything about it.”

Dena patted her on the shoulder. “You’re doing something about it now. That’s the important part. Besides, look who you have for a teacher.”

The wine had loosened her tongue. “I want him for more than a teacher.”

“Don’t they all.” And with one swallow, Dena downed the last of her wine.

Julie wondered if that meant her assumption about Daniel and Dena was correct. “What?”

Dena sat her glass on the floor. “All the submissives in the group want him.”

“I told you they all drop their pants, remember?” Sasha asked.

Sure, Sasha had told her, but to have Dena confirm it . . . it made her head spin. Before she could think of a reply, her phone rang. “It’s him!” she said, and realized if either of the other two women had any doubt of how she felt about Daniel, her reaction to his phone call probably cleared it up.

Dena pointed to a closed door. “Guest bedroom through there. You’ll have privacy.”

“Thanks,” she said, then answered the phone. “Hey.”

“I thought for a second you were screening calls and I didn’t make the cut,” he teased.

Julie shut the door behind her. “Afraid I’d decided you didn’t pass my test after all?”

“Yes and I’d be upset. Last I checked, I speak in complete sentences.” There was a slight pause. “Most of the time.”

She shivered, remembering what caused him to speak in phrases. Picturing him over her, his back arched in pleasure as he cl**axed inside her.

“Mmm,” she hummed. “Maybe complete sentence are overrated.”

He laughed. “We better change subjects before I’m tempted to come pick you up and render you speechless.”

“Tease.”

“I’m completely serious,” he said, and she didn’t doubt him. “What are you doing tonight?”

“I’m actually at Dena’s place. Sasha and I came for dinner.” She took a second to look around. The room was tastefully decorated in a French country theme. Simple and uncluttered, much like the rest of the apartment. “I like her.”

“I didn’t realize Sasha and Dena were close.”

“I didn’t either. Today was the first time I’ve seen her, not counting the group meeting.”

There was silence before he spoke again and when he did, his tone was flat, almost as if he were describing the weather. “She’s a good person. And an experienced submissive. She’d be happy to answer any questions you have on the lifestyle.”

“She mentioned she saw you on Sunday.” She brought it up, not because she felt jealous, but because she wanted him to know.

“Mentoring session with a new Dom. She helps sometimes.”

She wondered what that would be like, training someone. From what Daniel had told her, there seemed to be a lot to learn.

“I thought about asking if you’d like to stay and watch,” he said. “But decided it might be too soon.”

She respected both his decision and the thought that had gone behind it. He told her he’d been a Dom for over ten years; if he felt it too soon, it was too soon.

“Probably,” she agreed.

“I won’t keep you. I just wanted to call to see if you could come for dinner tomorrow?”

“Just dinner?”

“I was hoping you’d spend the night, too, but it didn’t seem polite to ask you to dinner and then to stay after so I could tie you up in my playroom.”

He chuckled after he said it, but she had a feeling he wasn’t joking. He was going to tie her up and have sex with her. Her heart pounded with excitement and desire swelled between her legs.

“Julie?”

“Is it tomorrow yet?”

“Have a good time with the girls, kitten.” His voice was low and sultry. “Tomorrow night you’re all mine.”