Nora nodded in agreement. “I can’t argue with that. Well, I could, but I’m not going to. Spanks for Nothing is Talel’s horse. He let me borrow him just to freak you out a little. Did it work?”

“You’ll have to do better than horse theft to freak me out. You are you, after all.”

“Good point.” Nora kissed Spanks for Nothing once more on his nose and handed him back to Talel. “Is he racing today?”

“He is. I wouldn’t bet on him if I were you, however. You’ve charmed him, milady, and a besotted horse is a distracted horse.”

Nora grinned ear to ear. “That’s terrible. We can’t have that.” Stepping forward, she laid her hands on the sides of Spanks for Nothing’s face and stared him in the eyes. “You have to win today. Win for me. Do you understand that?” The horse blew through his lips and Nora patted him on the head. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“He would be foolish to disobey you, Mistress,” Talel said, guiding Spanks for Nothing back to the stables. “As would any man.”

“I like that guy,” Nora said. “He has fabulous taste in women.”

Wesley looked down at her. “I can’t believe you know Talel bint Nassar.”

“I can’t believe you know Talel. Does everyone in horse racing know each other?”

“Yes, actually,” Wesley said as they strolled past the paddock and toward the betting booths. “Does everyone in the kink world know each other?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely. At least the New York community does. I’m kind of amused at how much overlap there is. Griffin and Talel and you—”

“I’m not in the New York kink community.”

“Kingsley Edge has a file on you an inch thick in his office. Whether you like it or not, you are one of us. Guilt by association,” she said. “Now how do I bet on Spanks for Nothing?”

“That depends. Do you want to bet on him winning, placing or showing? You could get fancy and do a combination bet. Maybe a trifecta or superfecta.”

“No idea what that means.” Nora pulled out a hundred dollar bill and laid it down on the counter. “I want Spanks for Nothing to win. That is all.”

The woman in the betting booth handed Nora her ticket, and Wesley escorted her to the stands. They took their seats and Wesley pulled out his binoculars. Nice firm track. Hadn’t rained in at least a week. The running would be fast today. He loved introducing first-timers to horse races. They were always amazed by how quickly the race ended. On his best day, Wesley could run a mile in seven minutes. The fastest horse could do it in one hundred thirty-one seconds, barely over two minutes. It blew his mind when he thought about it—over a thousand pounds of horseflesh covering a full mile in two minutes. The horse industry, Thoroughbreds, the races…he’d grown up around them, and he’d long ago lost his interest in being a part of this world. But the horses themselves…they still amazed him.

A siren blew to alert everyone that the race would start in seconds. Nora grabbed the binoculars from him and turned her attention to the starting gate.

“Watch them burst out of the gates,” Wesley said. “That’s the most exciting part until the finish line. Those horses are so jacked up on adrenaline right now that it’s like a bomb going off when those gates open.”

“Sounds dangerous.”

“It is dangerous. That’s when a lot of accidents happen. Lots of horses have died right out of the gate. Broken ankles, broken legs. Lots of jockeys get hurt there, too.”

“Poor little guys.”

“Some jockeys are women, Nora.”

“Poor little girls.”

“Horse racing isn’t a pretty sport,” Wesley confessed. “The horses are bred for speed, not heartiness. Legs like twigs. They break easy and running that hard can make their lungs bleed. They’re breakable animals.”

“Breakable—just my type. Do racehorses really piss like racehorses?”

“If a horse has bleeding lungs they give it Lasix. It’s a diuretic. They can pee about twenty gallons.”

“Hmm…twenty gallons. Get enough chardonnay in me and I can give them a run for their money.”

“We can stop by the bar later. Or you can. I’m still underage.”

“Rub it in, junior. Seriously. Rub it in.” Nora turned her head and smiled wickedly at him before giving the race her full attention once more. Wesley blushed. He’d been trying not to think about tonight with Nora. He wanted to be able to walk around in public without a visible erection beneath his jeans. “Spanks for Nothing is leading. How much money will I make?”

“Couple thousand dollars. Long odds on him.”

“Sweet. I could use the money. Saw a riding crop in the gift shop I have to take home with me.”

“Nora, how many riding crops do you need?”

“Just one more. Like always.” Nora stood up and shouted “Go Spanks!” but her voice was drowned out by the roar of the crowd as the horses neared the finish. Spanks for Nothing did seem destined for a big win, by a few lengths at least.

Spanks for Nothing crossed the finish line a length and a half before the second-place horse.

Nora stood on her seat, shouted a few “fuck yeah”s that had Wesley both laughing and cringing at the same time.

“Let’s go get your money.” He took her by the hand and pulled her off the seat. They cashed out Nora’s winning ticket and she spent half her take at the gift shop buying T-shirts.