Read Online Dungeon Building by Melinda Barron - Free Book Online

I’ll let you know when you do good or bad. That’s what you live for, nothing else.”
    Anger shot through her, and she pushed Logan’s hand away. She lowered her skirt and crossed her legs.
    He didn’t say anything. Instead, he leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees. Then he turned to look at her. In the darkness she couldn’t quite make out his expression, but she could tell from his posture that he wasn’t angry, just curious.
    He studied her for a few moments, but Evelyn kept her gaze on the screen. He settled back in his seat, and they watched the movie. When it was over, they ran the gauntlet that came from doing something in a small town. It was never an in-and-out situation. People went out to be seen and to gossip. The audience gathered in the lobby to discuss the film and to talk about ongoing events.
    Everyone they ran into asked about the break-in at the mayor’s house, and Logan assured them it was a one-time thing. He stressed that no one had been injured. For certain, there had been a great deal of property damage, but even the mayor’s pets had been left alone.
    “We’ll find who did it,” he told a group of older women, all of them widows who lived on their own. “Don’t you worry about anything, and if you get frightened one night, you give us a call at the station, and we’ll come check things out.”
    It put a smile on Evelyn’s face and made her regret the way she’d let two words remind her of something so bad, and influence the way she acted.
    When they were in his truck, she cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. You’re probably mad at me.”
    He hadn’t started the vehicle. He turned in his seat, and she shifted her gaze to him.
    “I’m not mad, Inky, just confused. You were playful earlier. You didn’t want to do it, but you followed my directions and you had fun. And then you shut down. Why?”
    “Should I make something up, or tell you the truth and risk that you’ll get pissed?”
    He narrowed his eyes just a little. “Always tell me the truth, no matter the consequences. That’s my number-one rule. Without the truth there can be no trust. We haven’t had that conversation, which is a bad thing. We sort of dived in headfirst. We need to sit down and chat. But first I want to hear why you pulled away when you were having so much fun.”
    “Well, the fake story would be that I didn’t want to get caught.” Evelyn took a deep breath and told him the real reason she’d pushed away his hand.
    Silence filled the cab of the truck. It was Logan who broke it. “You carry a lot of anger toward that man.”
    “He made me feel about two inches tall,” she said. “He was always telling me how fat I was, how I didn’t please him.” Now that she’d started, she couldn’t stop. “And it started good. I was a sub, and we were having fun. And then all of a sudden I was a slave with no rights. He gave me no choice in anything.”
    “That’s not going to happen with me, Inky. I promise you.”
    She knew from years of working with him on stories that he always told her the truth, and she had no reason to believe he wouldn’t do so now.
    “Look at me,” he ordered.
    Even though it was dark, light from a nearby lamp illuminated the cab. She could see his face. His gaze was serious, his mouth in a thin line.
    “You will never be a slave to me, Evelyn.” She loved that he’d used her real name. “What I expect from this relationship is a Dom/sub pairing. I will lead; you will follow, but you have the choice to not participate. You will never lose your rights with me. I will try to push you, true, but I don’t expect you to be a doormat.”
    He’d used that expression before.
    “We need to set a safe word. You know the rules there. Utter that word and everything stops.”
    She wanted to tell him that Carl had told her that, then gone back on his word. But Logan wasn’t Carl.
    “Doormat,” she said, returning his serious look.
    “Safe, sane, and consensual,” he