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for that.
    She’d kissed him. Was that against the rules? Shoot, whatever she’d done, he obviously wasn’t going to have anything to do with her in the future. But he could have been a little nicer about it.

    Masters of the Shadowlands: Dark Citadel

    39
    She tried to work up a good anger instead of feeling lost. What a jerk, walking off like that. “Fine then,” she muttered to his back. “You have a nice life too.” Turning, she almost ran into Sally.
    The trainee had obviously overheard everything. Her gaze was full of sympathy.
    “So what was that all about? Did I do something wrong?” Kari asked.
    “No, girlfriend. That’s just Master Dan; only he’s not usually that abrupt.” Sally stared after him, her brows together. “But it’s not you. He never uses a sub more than one night.”
    “Oh.” The unhappy lump in Kari’s stomach grew bigger. So she was just another submissive to him. Here she’d thought there was more than that between them. God, she could be stupid about men. “Got it. Thanks, Sally.”
    “No problem. We subs stick together.”
    “Miss Kari?”
    Kari turned to see the security guard. Oh, great, had she done something else wrong? “That’s me.”
    “I’m Ben. Master Dan asked me to walk you to your car.”
    “I don’t need an escort,” she said, then hesitated. Buck lingered near the room exit.
    “Then again, I’d love the company. Thank you.”
    As they walked past Buck, he gave her a sheepish smile. “Kari, I wanted to apologize. I was nervous and took it out on you.” He glanced at the guard. “I don’t want to keep you from leaving. How about I call you later this week and we’ll talk? I hope you can forgive me.”
    What could she say? After the way Master Dan had brushed her off like a nasty bug that had gotten into his soup, Buck’s eagerness to be with her was comforting. She moved her shoulders and gave him a weak smile. “There’s really nothing to forgive.
    We’ll talk later this week.”
    “Great.” He nodded at Ben and strode away, his step with a bounce in it.
    Well, at least one person thought she was nice. A shame Master Dan didn’t feel the same.

    * * * * *
Dan stalked into his apartment, stripping off his leathers on the way to the bedroom. He threw them into the corner. What a crappy evening.
    In the kitchen, he grabbed a beer and sucked half of it down before dropping into his chair in the living room. The cold brew helped, but he was still pissed, and he thumped his head against the back of the chair. What the hell was wrong with him, anyway?
    Like he didn’t know. He saw her again, like he’d been seeing her every few minutes on the drive home: Kari soft and round in his arms, her eyes glazed with 40 Cherise Sinclair
    passion, her lips swollen from his mouth. He hardened further, if that could be possible.
    Hell, he’d been hard all night.
    He should have grabbed Sally or one of the other trainees and obtained some relief before leaving. So why the hell hadn’t he? Because Kari would have felt betrayed?
    He wasn’t married to her, involved with her; why should her feelings matter?
    And there… That was the problem, the reason he felt like shit right now. The little sub had gotten to him. She didn’t look like Marion, and her personality was very different, but she sure as hell brought out his possessive nature. She’s mine, her body is mine, that laugh is mine. That swollen mouth is mine, and I made it look like that.
    But she wasn’t Marion. No one could be.
    He opened his eyes, his gaze falling to the photograph sitting on an end table.
    Marion on a spanking bench, leaning so far forward her lovely breasts spilled out of the black corset. Laughter filled her face as she dared him to take her.
    She was dead. All that life, that passion gone.
    His fault, dammit. After being called back to the station that night, he’d canceled the evening they’d planned. She’d yelled at him and then gone out to party without him. It had been