Bondage Unlimited by Tori Carson Page B

to Amanda and realized she was the woman James had sat with at the reception. “Nice to officially meet you, ma’am.” Hearing that they were married was a huge relief. No way in hell would Eva scene with a married man. She’d obviously opened her mind to new experiences, but he highly doubted that she’d ever go for that.
    “André said we were to make sure your family felt welcome,” Amanda explained.
    Gio remembered hearing that Amanda was a relative of André. “That was kind of him. Eva said I could get a couple of checklists from you.”
    “Two?” James asked as Amanda opened her desk drawer.
    “Yes, two please.”
    “That was fast.” James looked at him expectantly.
    James was obviously fishing for details. It was on the tip of Gio’s tongue to tell him to piss up a rope. Instead, Gio decided that open disclosure might be the best tack. “Eva has consented to be my submissive.” That was probably aggrandizing their agreement, but Gio didn’t really give a shit.
    Amanda gasped. “Congratulations! We wish you both the best.”
    “That’s quite an honor.” James leaned against Amanda’s desk. “Eva is very special to us.”
    “I’m glad she’s had friends looking out for her.” But that’s my job now, asshole. Gio took the clipboards, checklists and pens from Amanda. “Thank you.”
    “Have fun,” Amanda encouraged.
    Gio lifted his hand in a half wave as he entered the men’s locker room again. He slowed his pace and examined his actions. He felt a little guilty, like he was a thief and he’d just been handed the keys to the city. Anyway that he looked at it, he was taking advantage of the situation. There was little doubt that he had manipulated Eva. She’d asked him to respect her wishes and he’d blatantly worked around her objections. Fuck, he was doing it again.
    As he moved into the club, he considered his alternatives. Every honorable option had him never seeing Eva again and that wasn’t acceptable. In his black heart, he knew they were supposed to be together. The fact that she was into BDSM only reinforced his belief. Eva may have been immune to Cupid’s bitey little arrow, but Gio wasn’t. He’d been shot straight through the heart years ago and the time since hadn’t lessened its impact.
    Eva was sitting on the couch, right where he’d left her. He let out a sigh of relief. She could have snuck out the back and there wouldn’t have been too much he could have done about it. Maybe, underneath all the hurt, she did want to be with him too. He fervently hoped so.
    Gio sat next to her. “You doing okay? Do you want me to grab you a soda or anything?”
    “I’m fine, Gio. Seriously. I’ve had worse cuts shaving.” She sounded a little embarrassed.
    “Okay.” He handed her the clipboard and pen. “This looks a little more comprehensive than the one we use.” He turned the page and began scanning the second sheet. “I like the answer options—yes, no and question mark. Keeps it simple.”
    Eva nodded but didn’t say anything. She, too, was looking over the list as if it were the first time she’d seen it.
    She was quiet for several minutes and Gio was starting to get worried. The expression on her face was too serious. When she let out a heavy sigh, he put his hand on her wrist.
    “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
    “I just answered ‘no’ to an entire section. I thought I was more open-minded than this.” Eva sent him a sad smile.
    “Don’t worry about it.” He shrugged. “Once I got started, I wished there were more answer choices. ‘Maybe’ or ‘under certain conditions’ would have been helpful a few times.”
    Eva chuckled. “Yeah, it would have.”
    “Sweetheart, don’t sweat this. We’ll figure it out one step at a time. These documents are supposed to be fluid, ever changing. You try something you think you’re going to like but don’t, so you move the yes into the no category. Sometimes you get involved with someone and something you