“Such pretty skin.” His fingers lightly danced over the top of her breast.

   She swallowed.

   His touch grew rougher and he rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. He pinched it and an electric shock traveled down her body from where his hands were to the space between her legs that ached to be filled. He repeated his actions on her other breast. She held back her moan; she hadn’t thought anything about this setup would have turned her on, but it did.

   When she was very nearly writhing in her seat for him to touch her more damn it, he stood and, without waiting, brought the flogger down first on one breast and then the other.

   Fuck, that stung.

   He rubbed his thumb over both nipples again and then quickly flogged them again. The combination of pleasure and pain made her more aroused than she’d thought possible when she first walked into this room.

   Was Luke watching? Did her response to Fritz turn him on? The German Dom repeated his actions, but when he stood for the fourth and last time, she saw his fingers tighten on the handle of the flogger.

   As expected, the last strike held no pleasure, only pain, and unlike the others, afterward he didn’t caress her. Instead he took a step back.

   “I suggest you take me at my word when I tell you that you don’t want that particular punishment on your pussy.”

   She nodded.

   “Words, Ms. Bishop.”

   “Yes, Herr Brose.”

   Satisfied, he turned away and walked back to the desk, put the flogger down, and faced her, leaning his hip on the edge of the desk. “Tell me, Miss Bishop, why are you here?”

   “I’m sorry, Sir. Can you elaborate on what you mean? Here in this room, or here at this house?”

   “Apologies. Why are you here at this house?”

   “Today Luke and I had to finish the photo shoot, Sir.”

   “And when you were here last weekend?”

   A slight feeling of unease started to creep into Meagan’s body. She couldn’t put her finger on exactly why, but something was off. Once more, she tried looking through the two-way glass. Nothing. For all she knew Luke wasn’t even watching anymore.

   “Eyes on me.”

   “Yes, Herr Brose. I came over last weekend.”

   “Why?”

   “Because Luke invited me to dinner.”

   “And you stayed all night?” he asked.

   “Yes, Sir.”

   “Was this the first time you spent the night?”

   “No, Herr Brose.”

   The unease she felt earlier began to lessen a bit. From the way it sounded, Luke was interested only in her feelings for him. Nothing more. They would finish this scene, and then she would kick his ass. Honestly. An interrogation scene? To get to the bottom of her feelings? It was almost pathetic.

   Some small part of her brain chimed in that Luke was not pathetic or anywhere close to it. There was probably another reason for the interrogation scene. She flexed her hands, urging him mentally to hurry up.

   “I’m not going to ask you how many times you’ve spent the night before.”

   Meagan sighed in relief. She was afraid that because of the circumstances, her head wasn’t clear enough to correctly determine the number. Fritz watched her intently from his place by the desk. His stare almost made her feel guilty. But what did she have to feel guilty about?

   Oh no.

   Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.

   “Interesting expression, Ms. Bishop.” His eyes momentarily flashed with victory. What was that about?

   He pushed away from the desk, taking a ruler with him. He walked toward her slowly, slapping the ruler against his palm as he did so. In the otherwise silent room, the sound resonated. And though she was expecting it, each slap made her jump slightly.

   “So skittish.” The ruler slap against his palm again. “Are you starting to figure out why you’re here? Here in this room, that is.”

   “Not really, Sir.”

   He didn’t acknowledge her answer. “You’re so vulnerable in this position. Every inch of you exposed and offered to me.” He stood by her side and ran a finger down her arm to her palm, where he gently swirled his forefinger at the base of her thumb. “You’ve been a naughty girl, Ms. Bishop. Tell me what you’ve done. Confess and I will go easy on you. Deny anything and I will punish you thoroughly.”

   Her heart started to pound. Did Luke know? If so, how much? Was he aware of the blackmail? Maybe he wasn’t sleeping when she got out of his bed after all. Had he set up this elaborate scene to get her to confess?

   No. There was no way he could know. No possible way.

   But Fritz stood there with a knowing expression on his face. Fuck. He knew something.

   “Come now, Ms. Bishop.” His voice was softer, but somehow that made him seem only more dangerous. “Let us be reasonable. There’s no need to make this hard on yourself.”

   “I, uh, I’m, shit.”

   He picked up a black pair of gloves from the top of the desk and ever so slowly put them on. All the while watching her. He shrugged and wiggled his now gloved fingers. “Of course, it doesn’t matter one way or the other to me, you see. In fact, I often find I enjoy a stubborn suspect.”

   Suspect. He knew. They both did.

   “How much do you know?” she asked.

   “I believe I already gave you a warning about asking me questions, Ms. Bishop. You will atone for that mistake in a few minutes.”

   “If you already know, why are you doing this?”

   “Another question? My, my, my, you are a naughty one, aren’t you?”

   She clamped her mouth shut to keep from saying anything else. He sat perfectly still, never taking his eyes off her. Finally, he stood.