N is for... (Checklist Book 14) L DuBois (readict books txt) 📖

was less than because of what she wanted. Because she both enjoyed sex and was a submissive

It hurt. A barely healed scar was ripped open, the pain familiar but no less heartbreaking for the familiarity.

Coming from Daniel, the man she’d flirted with and who knew the difference between sassy and bratty…it hurt worse.

Autumn pushed back, using her bodyweight to throw him off balance so he took a few steps back. She was already moving, whirling off the bench and stooping to grab something to cover herself.

Her corset lay in a heap, and there was no point in trying to get it back on, so she snatched up his jacket, holding it to her chest as she retreated, backing away from their little spot and into an open area of the courtyard. There were now plenty of other people in the courtyard, but she ignored them.

She was shaking, teeth nearly chattering, so she clenched her jaw and finally looked up. Looked at him.

Daniel stood in the shadows, his eyes wide, his hands loose at his sides. He opened his mouth, but didn’t say anything. He looked utterly confused. Or maybe that was her wishful thinking, and that look was really disappointment, disgust, not confusion.

“Autumn…”

The sound of her name on his lips, the way he was looking at her… It was too much.

Autumn turned and walked away.

Chapter 6

What the fuck had just happened?

Scenes went sideways. It happened to even the most experienced players.

Daniel wouldn’t consider himself an expert, but he was far from inexperienced. Usually, if a scene had to be stopped, or started deviating from plan, he could sense the issue coming, and knew how to get himself and his partner reengaged and back on track. That focus was a major part of his need for control. A need he only released when he was Master Daniel.

This time he had no idea what had gone wrong.

He stood, stupefied, as Autumn hurried away. She wasn’t running, but it was a quick walk.

Her naked back—naked save for the thin strings of her thong underwear and the already fading pink marks from the belt—disappeared into the shadowed hallway that surrounded the courtyard.

More than a few heads had turned to watch her, then track back to him. Some Doms and Masters who’d noticed her retreat hit him with hard stares.

That shocked him into moving, because if he didn’t do something, one of the men giving him the gimlet eye might take it upon themselves to go check on Autumn.

But Autumn was his.

He snatched up his belt and started feeding it through the loops as he hurried after her. She had given him control so he could satisfy her need, both their needs. This situation had just spiraled out of his control and grim determination, a need to make it right, to understand and fix it, made every muscle in his body tight.

He had long legs, and they ate up the ground, closing the distance she’d put between them.

He caught up to her on the path between the Sub Rosa court and the next building over. The covered flagstone path was lit only by the starlight that peeked through the slatted cover overhead, and ambient light filtering out of the Sub Rosa court.

He didn’t touch her, that was inappropriate bordering on unacceptable, but he slid past her, took a few steps, turned, and stopped, blocking her path. She pulled up short, but didn’t look at him.

“We need to talk,” he said softly, his tone gentle when inside he felt hard and ragged. “It would be remiss of me to let you leave right now. At the very least you need aftercare.”

“We didn’t scene.”

“We did,” he countered.

She hugged herself, wrinkling the fabric of his jacket with her tight, desperate hold. “I…”

That was all she said. Daniel gave her another minute, but when she didn’t speak, his Dom side took over.

“We’ll talk in private.” He stepped sideways off the path, between two of the columns that supported the pergola-like path cover. The rocky soil, loose rather than hard packed as it was in the courtyards, crunched under his shoes. He looked down at her bare feet, then back at her.

“If you wait a moment I’ll go get your shoes.”

It was a risk. The moment he was gone she’d probably disappear into the Sub Rosa court.

To his surprise she joined him, walking out of the striped shadows and into the silvery light cast down by moon and stars.

“You deserve aftercare too,” she said softly. “And you’re right, what we did was enough to…”

Her words ended with a heavy sigh.

Without touching her, Daniel guided her onto the grounds of the estate, and around the corner of the Sub Rosa court building.

The manicured lawns—which he was fairly certain were fake grass due to California’s perpetual water shortage—started at the edge of the building and extended over large swaths of the grounds. From here they could see the Conclave, the edge of the Iron Court, and even the tops of a few cars in the parking lot at the front of the property. No one would come this way. They had total privacy.

Daniel took off his tie and tie tack, ignoring the way she tensed, and stuffed it into his pocket. With quick, economical movements he unbuttoned and slipped off his dress shirt, laying it on the ground beside the wall.

Autumn looked at it, then at him.

“Won’t you get cold?”

“I’ll be fine.” His undershirt was thin cotton, but he was still far from naked. “I’m more worried about you.”

Autumn turned her back to him and then slipped his jacket on rather than just holding it up. The sleeves hid her hands and it covered her butt. She turned to face him, and he had to quickly school his features.

The jacket was big enough around the waist to overlap, but while he was roughly the same circumference from waist to chest, she was most definitely not, and the jacket gaped, showing off the inner curves of her breasts, which