It’s a fucking miracle that I manage to sit quietly and watch the scene before us. Sex surrounds us. Even the viewing room smells of something musky and sensual. I love this room. The black furniture and red accents remind me of a den of iniquity in a romance novel. When I’m fabulously rich like I plan to be, I’ll have one just like it.

And this couch. Sublime is the only word that springs to mind. And all I want to do is curl up on it with this man. This man I just met. This man I barely know. This man who could be a serial killer for all I know. This is the kind of stuff that gets me into trouble every fucking time. I get all trusting like I did when ES said we’d be going to a party. ES always said I’m too fucking gullible.

But every neuron in me screams that Jaden is different. I know I’m given to flights of fancy; that’s how I survive. This isn’t one of them. Nothing in this man even vibrates an alarm bell. Being near him makes me feel safe. Oh, I wouldn’t want to be on his bad side in a dark alley, but I sure want him to be the one with me there. Sure he could rip me limb from limb, but I know with absolute certainty that he won’t. Yes, perhaps I am the fucking lunatic ES said I’d turn out to be. “I could split you apart.” Even though I know it’s a joke, his words send a frisson of electricity dancing right through my privates. He’d call them something else. He might make me call them something else. Excitement or agitation, I don’t know which, rolls through me like huge waves crashing against the cliffs of my confusion.

Mostly, I want to feel something good again. With Jaden, I’ve felt very good. Much as the flogging and Sub business interests me, every molecule in my body strains to connect with his life force, like a magnetic pull.

I didn’t know how to act when he arrived. I mean, exactly how does one act the day after? I’ve never dated, so I have no fucking clue how I should behave. Should I touch him? I can’t stop thinking about running my fingers through those silky fine hairs sprinkling his forearms. I sit on my hands to keep them still.

A frown creeps in. Jaden isn’t acting like normal guys. He doesn’t do what guys usually do—roughly pull me over and start slobbering all over me while they grab my breasts if I’m lucky. Yeah right, lucky. But not Jaden, he sits there all huge and quiet and sexy and maybe liking me too, just a little. And that’s all it takes for my mind to dive back into the gutter. To start thinking about what it would feel like if that were his hand on my butt. I blush thinking of his hands between my legs.

I remember what his cock felt like deep inside. I want to pant. Control yourself, for Christ’s sake. Breathe. Take even, measured breaths. Try not to seem obvious. I should be ashamed. Fuck that shit. He’s here. Right now. With me.

When I’m with Jaden, I forget about that awful last week, although the drug-induced fog I was in goes a long way in helping suppress memories. As it stands, memories of the abuse heaped on me over the years don’t haunt my days, just my nights. Sometimes, a drug-induced coma helps bury the nightmares too.

Now, here he sits, beside me, in a sex club. It should be the last place on earth I want to be. It’s the only place on earth I want to be.

I sit electrified—maybe a little terrified—as his hand rests on my thigh. What the hell should I do? I don’t know the rules. Should I touch him? Where? Jaden’s hand tightens its grip—not hard, just insistent.

“Stop analyzing.”

“I can’t.” I start my descent into the misery of my personal hell. Jaden lifts my chin, pointing my face toward the playroom. The Dom diddles the Sub . . . down there. I twist my head to the side, trying to get a better look.

“Take your mask off.”

“But—”

“It’s okay in here. It’s just us.” He removes his simple black mask. I don’t move. He reaches over and takes mine off. “What are you thinking?”

Oh my God. This is the most embarrassing moment of my life. I can’t say those words. Can I?

“Stop thinking. Just tell me.”

I clear my throat. “Why does he stop every time it looks like she’s ready to come?”

Whew. That wasn’t so bad. I refuse to look at Jaden. I don’t want to see the boredom if I’m lucky, downright distaste if I’m not. If I were one of those Southern women on the plantations in the movies, I’d be wringing my hands in despair right this minute.

“Rayne.” Jaden’s command snaps me right back to attention. Sometimes I wonder whether I’m a bit—

“Rayne!” Danger lurks behind the way he said my name. Danger that makes me tingle down there.

Fuck. “What?” I turn to face him, mental fists raised in defiance and defense. I take one look at his face and shut the fuck up.

“As for your observation, you’re bang on. Why do you think he might not let her come?”

“You mean on purpose?” The thought never would have occurred to me. I mean, you just do it and get it over with, and that’s that, right? Why the delay?

“Dracaena, you can do better than that.”

Oh shit. I have no idea. Well. I drag the word a thousand miles in my mind. “’Cause that’s part of her punishment, right?” I’m triumphant. Jaden actually laughs. I deflate.

He chucks my chin. “You really are a delight, Little Dragon.” He brushes the pad of his thumb across my lower lip. By now, I’m gushing down there. Thank God for the invention of underwear. Jaden sits back.

“Teasing is not part of her punishment. It’s part of her pleasure.”

“Well, it would drive me nuts.” I have no idea how I know shit like that, but I do.

“Are you certain, Little Dragon?” The breath of his voice brushes across my ear like a shiver. My vagina and everything else down there clenches. Then he kisses me. Hard. Crushes those gorgeous lips into mine. Demanding. Commanding. Bending me to his will. I want to join him on the ride. So, I do.

Our tongues battle. His wins. There are times I’m happy to parry. Mostly, I just sit back for the ride. And try not to think about all the things ES would have to say if he could see me now. Ick!

Jaden pulls away and gestures. “Take them off.” His voice has the low, husky growl of a male in heat. I am doing that to him. Well, okay, maybe with a little . . . or a lot of help from the folks next door.

“Now!”

I’m compelled to obey. I strip.

Jaden sweeps his hand above the couch. I lie down. He drops a blindfold on my chest. I look at it for a moment. I look at him. He stares directly back, his eyes glowing with desire. Lust. Need. And maybe something else, but it isn’t violence or anger. This man loves being in this moment. I want to be in it with him. I put the mask on and lie back.

I’m thrilled to fucking death and almost perishing with excitement.

I feel his heat before he sits beside me. His hand flicks my thighs apart then navigates straight up to cup my soaking wet vagina.

Oh, my God. Embarrassing. What are you doing, Rayne? BG decides now is a good time to come out and get her piece of the action. Go away!

Jaden thrusts two fingers up my vagina and digs into the place the girls called the G-spot. I gasp. It happens so fast, and the feeling’s so intense I can’t think of anything else.

“You will stop your spin thinking when you’re with me. Understood?”

Shit.

“Understood.” This time, his command is like the lash of a whip. I nod.

“Now, where were we?” Jaden’s low growl makes more of my juice gush over his fingers. He withdraws them.

“Hmmm. You smell so good.” Jaden is silent for a beat, but I swear I can hear his tongue licking my essence from his fingers. “You taste good, too.”

Jaden leans over me. His heat makes my blood boil. Something wet touches my lips the same instant I inhale a pleasant musky smell.

“Like sweet ambrosia. Taste.” Jaden’s finger traces across my bottom lip, teasing my teeth apart.

I should be grossed out, but this might just be the most goddamned hot thing I’ve ever heard. I take a tentative lick. His fingers taste good. No, I taste great. Suddenly I can’t get enough. I devour his index and middle fingers, sucking them deep inside my mouth.

“Ah yes.” Jaden breathes in my ear.

I shiver with anticipation.

“You’re going to lie still and let me tease you. For as long as I want.” Jaden sucks my left nipple into his mouth, pulling on the base with his teeth. It doesn’t hurt, but it’s none too gentle, either. He licks, sucks, nips, and pulls until I want to force his hand back between my legs.

Get on with it. Now. My mind screams with need. I try to lie perfectly still, try not to pant, but that’s really fucking difficult. I may have small breasts, but I have big nipples . . . and, I’m just learning, sensitive nipples. What Jaden is doing to me makes me want to scream. I want more; it’s as simple as that.

After he spends an absolute eternity on one nipple, he moves over to the next. He’s super careful at first, probably because of the bruising. I need more. I press on the back of his head. He sucks a little harder. I moan. The surging feeling running through me just keeps building and building. I’m not used to feeling this good for this long. It’s overwhelming. I want it to stop. I need it to last forever. Finally, Jaden raises his head. He kisses me lightly.

“Beautiful,” he whispers.

Oh, how I wish he really believed that. He doesn’t give me time to think about it. He presses my thighs farther apart and goes to work down there. He takes his sweet fucking time, too. If I were a noisemaker, I’d scream my head off. He takes the tip of his finger and circles my clitoris over and over again. The size of my ginormous clit is another thing that embarrasses me, but Jaden seems fascinated by it. I roll my head from side to side, silently begging for him to put me out of my misery. Either make me come, or kill me. He ignores my silent entreaties. He tends to my clit with great care—squeezing, rubbing, and kneading.

Eventually, his fingers return to my vagina where they work me over . . . hard. I’m so goddamned excited. I’m a hydrogen bomb just waiting to go off. Just when I think I might actually come, Jaden backs off. He plays the game of switcheroo over and over until there’s nothing left of me but a puddle of molten lava. I wish I were a screamer for the second time. I moan and roll my head, instead.

I imagine Jaden thrusting into me, the feel of that big hard cock. Desire burns through me, but the bomb won’t explode. By now, I’m half insane with the need for release. I arch up, thrusting my groin against Jaden’s hand.

Then Jaden slides down and puts his mouth . . . down there. Nasty. I try to jerk away, but he holds me firmly in place. He sucks and licks my clitoris. The sounds as he devours me, heightened by my blindness, nearly drive me insane with craving. Delicious bolts of energy roll through my guts. It shouldn’t feel this good.

His mouth remains fixed on my clit while he increases the intensity of his pounding fingers. More time passes while I go out of my mind. Jaden replaces his mouth with the pad of his thumb and brings his head beside mine.

“Come for me, Little Dragon,” Jaden whispers so low I’m not sure I hear him. Nothing happens. Unlike the romance novels, I don’t instantly combust.

His mouth goes back down there. Every muscle in my body tenses. Almost there . . .