Exclusive by Eden Bradley Page B

night with this man, her sense of self was shifting. Certainly what she knew of herself as a sexual being. And she was pretty damn sure other parts of her life were about to change. Tomorrow she might feel differently, might feel that intense need for control once more. But for tonight, she chose to give it all over to him.
Shaye.
He might very well be the end of her, too.
    F I V E
    Devin lay curled up next to him, silent tears sliding
    down her flushed cheeks. Shaye wiped them away with careful fingers, pushed her long, wild hair from her face. This was part of his job, too, caring for the bottom when they crashed. He was always able to do it with no emotional involvement at all. Just do his job, take care of the girl until she calmed down. He could do it in his sleep. Why was this girl so different?
He felt her tears, damn it! What the hell was that about? But he had to think only of her right now.
“Shh, Devin. You're okay,” he crooned to her. “You're just crashing.
We talked about this earlier, remember?”
She nodded her head, whispered, “Yes.”
“You'll be okay in a little while. Just let it happen, this crash. Crash into me. Into my arms. I've got you.”
He pulled her closer, trying to ignore the hammering of his pulse
in his veins. The heat coming off her was incredible. That and the
sweet scent of her hair, making him want to keep her safe. From everything. Maybe even from him. That was part of his job as a Dom, too. Wasn't it?
But it went far beyond that with her. There was more here than that ever-present sense of responsibility. Something about her . . . She was sexy as hell, no doubt about it. But beneath that was an intrinsic innocence he hadn't seen in even the youngest girls who came to the club, the brand-new twenty-one-year-olds. The innocence he saw in Devin wasn't necessarily virginal. No, there was something in her eyes, something about the way she'd given up that power struggle so easily, even though it was obviously against her nature. She was still strong. He never saw the ability to submit as something weak, anyway. But there was definitely something special about her.
It was almost too much to think about, with her warm in his arms, her scent all around him and his heart thundering in his chest as though he'd just run a marathon. And his poor, neglected cock still as hard as ever.
It occurred to him then that he wanted to take her out of the Ring, to Sanctuary. To that most exclusive of BDSM clubs, which he'd belonged to for almost three years. Why the hell was he even considering such a move?
Devin was worthy of that place. He had never taken a girl there before. But again, Devin was special. On so many levels, it scared the shit out of him. But once he had it in his head that he had to take her to Sanctuary, he couldn't stop thinking about it.
He fell asleep in her four-poster bed, with images of presenting Devin at Sanctuary. With the halfformed idea of how he would propose it to her, taking her to this most formal and extreme place. Could she handle it? He knew she could. The bigger question now was, could he handle it? Could he take her to Sanctuary, knowing what it could mean to them both?
Devin expected to wake up alone. Still, she kept
perfectly still, not daring to open her eyes, wanting to stay in that dream place where she imagined he had stayed with her. So real. So real she could almost smell him, feel the heat of his body. With a sigh she opened her eyes, and found him watching her, his hazel gaze dark and intense on her face.
“Shaye.”
“Good morning, little one.”
Ah, so nice, that nickname. Made her melt all over.
“Good morning.”
He smiled. “You sound surprised.”
“I am. I didn't think you'd be here.”
“I wouldn't have left without saying good-bye. And there's something want to talk with you about, once you've had a chance to really wake up.”
“Mmm... impossible without coffee, and I don't keep it in the house. I go down to the Marina every morning and