Vampire Mistress by Joey W. Hill Page B

shard with a firm but constant pressure that gave her the minimum amount of pain, though Anwyn still sucked in a breath. “You amaze me, how you figure out the tough ones like that. Be careful, though. You’re nowhere near home free with that monster. You wouldn’t have caught me giving him free sessions. I’d charge him double.”
    “Sometimes it’s about more than that.”
    Being a Mistress had long ago become an art form to her, but as the club’s owner, she picked up the brush only if she felt the canvas was specifically for her, too intriguing to pass up. This underground level was as much an extension of her nature as it was to cater to the hard-core needs of others. It was successful because she understood the need to reach that savage cutting edge, where civility and rules didn’t apply.
    When she was in this kind of mind zone, her staff knew she didn’t have patience for explaining what she was doing or why, so Maddie had subsided. While she worked, Anwyn tilted her head to watch the monitor, which showed the fully tiled bath chamber. Eye bolts for chains or ropes were embedded in a variety of positions, some on tracks that could be locked or adjusted. Jets activated from all angles, and there were multiple detachable showerheads. Next to it was a deep hot tub that could be used as a dunking area, if sensory deprivation was preferred.
    Ella had guided him to sit on the wall of the tub so Janet could remove his boots. She straddled his legs one at a time, her ample rear within touching distance, the pink, glistening folds of an aroused and lubricated pussy visible, an additional aesthetic pleasure as her buttocks tightened to remove the boot. When she shifted to remove the other, Gideon’s fingers brushed her backside. Anwyn suppressed a smile as he snatched his fingers back. She knew better than to assume he’d realized he hadn’t been given permission to touch. Instead, like a stubborn child, he refused to let her see he was getting unwilling pleasure out of his surroundings. Of course, a man’s cock didn’t know how to lie.
    Janet chose that moment to pull a little harder, so that the boot came off fast. She tumbled back. When he caught her on his lap, she smiled impishly into his bemused face before she slipped off, giving him a provocative little wiggle. It almost made him smile back, an automatic reaction, though he was too worked up to relax that much.
    The hint of that smile disappeared when Charlene had him stand. She had a silver manacle and chain, which made Gideon stiffen when he saw it.
    All three women were trained to handle a client who became violent, knowing when to back off, how to protect themselves for the key few seconds before security could enter. It had always been sufficient, because she did vet the applicants so thoroughly. When a client was stripped down to raw emotions, most would still hold on to impulse control, even if it was by their fingernails.
    But Anwyn was keenly aware of Madelyn’s attention, her doubts, and she cursed herself for letting them infect her. When she’d asked, “Is my trust misplaced?” and Gideon had shaken his head, she’d known for certain that they would be fine. No, she hadn’t expected the reaction that had put glass in her shoulder, but this was different. There was nothing threatening to him about these three women. He wouldn’t hurt them.
    Though his body was abruptly as tense as if a vampire had sprung up in front of him, he let Charlene raise his wrist, fit the manacle around it. What probably helped was that the chains appeared thin. He’d believe he could break them, if needed. But the chains were titanium. The bolts to which they would be attached were embedded into a concrete and steel rebar block behind the tile. Even Daegan might need a few moments to get loose. For a mortal, it wasn’t going to happen. She held her breath as Charlene ducked under his arm to lift his wrist and cuff the other arm. She did her job well, brushing