Read Online Controlling Interest by Francesca Hawley - Free Book Online Page B

guessing needed. It happened. But you need to learn that
a club like this is designed to be a safe environment.”
    “But she said no , Tor.”
    “And no isn’t a safe word, remember?” Reluctantly, she
nodded. “And one other thing. If you hadn’t been living in a past moment, you
would have noticed that each time she cried out no it was because he paused.”
Mouse shook her head. “Oh yes, it was. He’d strike then pause. She’d cry out no
and he’d strike again. Then pause.”
    “But he kept hitting her.”
    “Yes, because the no meant please don’t stop and
Drago could see that. He understood that because they’ve played together
before.”
    “Are they a couple?”
    “No. I’m not sure he’ll ever find a permanent submissive.”
    “Why?”
    “Long story. Suffice it to say, Drago is an excellent top.
Careful. Concerned. And completely focused on whatever a submissive needs from
him when they’re working together. All right?”
    Mouse sighed and nodded, sagging into Tor’s embrace. “I’m
sorry. I just…”
    “Didn’t understand. Yeah, I know.” He brushed her tears
away. “So why didn’t the other scenes bother you?”
    “It was how small the woman was and the way she cried, and
yet he just kept hitting her.” She shook her head, curving herself against his
chest. He stroked her hair and the small of her back soothingly. “Something
about the position too…I guess the way she was bent over reminded me of the
dining table.”
    “So the other scenes down there didn’t bring this up for
you?”
    “No. And neither did what I saw at Unfettered. Not really.”
    “Unfettered?” He continued to stroke the small of her back
and she closed her eyes, relaxing into him.
    “Yeah, Saturday night. The public stuff seemed fairly mild,
I guess.”
    “Would that be when you wore a gold mask?”
    The quiet question brought her out of her calm and she
lifted her head to look up at him. Oh no. No. This was just so bad. He didn’t
look mad. But he didn’t look happy either. In fact, she couldn’t read him at
all.
    “Um…why would you think that?”
    He tugged her hair out of the bun she’d bound it in and it
escaped in kinky waves around her face. His fingers stabbed into her hair,
stroking through it as if he loved the texture. She stared up at him,
wide-eyed.
    “Let’s see. Some odd squeaks you made this morning and this
hair. And the comment you just made about visiting Unfettered on Saturday
night. I’d say—case closed. Wouldn’t you?”
    “Circumstantial evidence.”
    “Oh, I don’t think so.” He cradled her face. “Why did you do
it?”
    This wasn’t going well and she still couldn’t tell if he was
pissed or not. “I wanted to learn.”
    “So you picked me?” He stiffened, pulling away from her.
    “No. Not exactly.”
    “Well, what? Exactly?” He put his hands on his hips.
    “I didn’t know you’d be there until Mistress Zarah looked
past me and said you were right on time for once.”
    “I see.” His eyes narrowed. “And if I hadn’t pieced this
together, would you have ever told me?”
    She bit her lip, knowing the answer was no. When she opened
her mouth to speak, he withdrew from her—she could almost see it— as he waved
her words away.
    “Don’t lie.” He backed toward the door and she felt cold.
Alone. Bereft. “You wouldn’t have ever told me, would you?”
    “Probably not,” she whispered.
    “I see. Right. I’m glad I was a good fuck and gave you a
nice intro to BDSM. I hope you enjoyed it.” His face was tight and his eyes
were cold as he glared at her.
    She reached out toward him but he shook his head. “No. Don’t
pretend it was important to you.”
    “But it was.”
    “Sure it was, Mouse. Sure it was. Look, I’ve got a business
to handle. Get yourself together and come back out.”
    “But I made an idiot out of myself.”
    “All the more reason to come back to the party. Once Drago
is free, you can apologize to him.”
    She blanched.