Knock, knock. I rapped on the studio’s glass door three times before I heard the familiar sound of scraping metal as the lock unbolted, and I was surprisingly greeted by one of her dumb pussy boys.

“River,” said the fucker.

My veins on the side of my neck were so strained I thought they were about to explode. I was so consumed by anger that the idea of moving would be too much.

Was I even breathing?

No, I realized I’d been holding my breath as I pinned this idiot with a murderous scowl. My demeanor made him apprehensive. It was as if he was deciding if I was challenging him, but before I could make a snide comment about his pathetic pussy boy status, the man cleared his throat, gathering some common sense.

“Cara instructed me to help you with these.” He dangled both handcuffs and a blindfold with his right hand.

Great, I inwardly remarked as my scowl deepened further. She was upping the stakes. How far was she willing to take it? With her dating twins … I had a feeling Cara was going to test me to the limit.

As hard as I was for her, it equaled the blinding rage that possessed me. Which emotion would win out? It wasn’t a question of my uncontrollable want for her—it was already a given—but it was a question of whether I was capable of forgiving myself for stooping this low after what she’d done to me. Should I stay, or should I go? The question weighed on me. Did I have it in me to suppress my wrath for a good lay? If I walked away, would I be left with lingering thoughts of what ifs? If I had barely survived before, I doubted I’d be able to forgive myself if I took the coward’s way out.

No, walking away wasn’t an option. This was my idea, after all.

I had major issues with control, and for Cara to strip me of some sort of power the moment I stepped into the studio’s door … It was disconcerting. But as I had already decided earlier, tonight was about burying the past. In more ways than one, this was going to be my closure.

Swallowing my pride, I chose not to say a damn thing in fear I’d end up chewing into this fucker. Since I was here for Cara, provoking a fight surely wouldn’t gain any favors.

I barely nodded, signaling I was game for whatever his Master had in mind, much to my chagrin.

The poor guy had to tiptoe to blindfold me. It wasn’t my fault he was short.

“I’m taking you to see her now, so don’t mind me holding your elbow,” he said with a little uncertainty.

The fucker knew who I was, and I guess my status intimidated him. I snickered when I felt his hands shake while tying the blackout cloth behind my head.

Good. There was going to be one Alpha around here, and it sure as hell wasn’t going to be him. It was why Cara had chosen him—because he was easily dominated. By calling the shots, she controlled the situation and his twin.

The leader and the follower.

Enfolded in darkness, I found it difficult to peak through the blindfold. The blind leading the blind.

How fitting, I thought with great satisfaction.

Cara Quinn had transformed into another woman. Was the transformation done, or had it only begun? The thought saddened and thrilled me a great deal. A huge part of me wished the old Cara was buried in there somewhere, but deep down, I knew it was wishful thinking. This new version was harder, tougher somehow. Her saucy, coquettish appearance and those guarded, cynical eyes made it difficult to decipher her motives—almost mercurial. So, it made me wonder, which version of Cara would emerge tonight. The old surely would fuck with my heart. The new one would fuck with my head. Either one was just as deadly, so it was rather tough to choose which one I’d prefer.

“Almost there,” said Cara’s little lamb. I’d almost forgotten he was right next to me.

In the background, I could hear a door being opened before being ushered forward. After another minute more, I found myself seated on a wooden chair. Then the ever-obedient pussy boy cuffed my hands over the back of the chair, installing me for anyone’s scrutiny.

I followed the sound of his faint steps retreating somewhere in the room before disappearing behind a closed door.

My breathing hitched while I remained still, relaxed even in my bound position, as my ears tried to pick up the littlest of noise around me.

The air was chillier inside this room, but the fire within me scorched on. The familiar scent of being in a dance studio teased my memories of the past. The acoustics of the room were noted. Sound simply bounced off the mirrors and walls, echoing around me. And in my blindfolded state, my senses were magnified to the hilt. Image after erotic image of the old Cara dancing for me, seducing me, made me groan in vain.

God, no one could make my cock so hard it hurt the way Cara could. No woman came close. The sexual connection I had with this woman even after our tragic ending had no effect on my dick. It desperately needed her like a dying man in need of water.

I didn’t have to call for her. Cara was somewhere in this room, watching me.

I could feel her. She was close, but she chose to simply watch me. The recognizable charged energy attracting my body was ever present. It felt like two magnets pulling toward each other. The static was almost unbearable. Our palpable connection, it seemed, was stronger than before. It was as if the scar she had marked me with made me more aware of its owner. Like a sensor, or like when a person had gone through a major surgery and was left with a deep scar, they could always tell when rain was coming because that particular scar would begin to prickle. It was our body’s natural response to nature’s forces. Once it was there, it would be embedded forever. A powerful link that could never be severed. I once thought it a blessing but considered it a curse after our demise.

Those eyes …

Those fucking beautiful eyes I used to get lost in each time while I was deep inside her were now studying me, examining every inch of my body until she was ready to play a role.

Knowing how Cara worked, she was going to try to dismantle me by attempting to take my manhood. Oh, she wouldn’t do it right away. She would do it slowly until I was left with no option but to submit to her. It was never going to happen, but I’d like to see her try, anyway.

Cluck …

Cluck …

Cluck …

The sexy thud of stilettos hitting the wooden floor echoed around the room. It came from a short distance. Done at a measured pace. A clear indication the show was about to start.

This wasn’t my first time getting a chick to perform for me, but fuck, this was Cara. Not some random chick, but the woman who had me at first sight. My first love. My ex-fiancé. The one who held the key to my soul.

Sweat began to bead around my brows. My heart hammered against my chest as my imagination went into full-scale overdrive. The things this woman could do to me, they were unfathomable.

The anticipation was killing me. I couldn’t even begin to describe the emotions running through me. It was a cocktail of drugs I only got when with her. But I’d rather die before ever admitting how much she disturbed me.

Jesus … Please give me strength.

Seconds stretched into lifetimes. Minutes became infinity. Doubts began to cloud around me. It left me anxious, a feeling I didn’t welcome at all.

What is she waiting for?

Had she changed her mind?

Had she decided that she’d rather do one of the twins than me? And if she did, why was she taking her time in telling me? Was she laughing at me?

Fuck.

The last one really got to me.

“If you’re done scrutinizing me like some kind of specimen or some type of freak or a joke, uncuff me. I have better ideas than wasting my time.” My patience had run out. I wasn’t even sure how long I’d been here, but I figured if she hadn’t said a damn word after all this time, this wasn’t ever going to happen. Might as well cut my losses and get the fuck out before this turned ugly. “Uncuff me, Cara!”

Silence. Again.

“Take. This. Shit. Off!” I roared into the room.

I was about to yell obscenities when the sound of her heels trailed behind me, measured and steady, unaffected by my unfettered brashness. Each step echoed in my mind, and with it came my shallow breathing.

My lungs completely ceased to function when I felt her knees lightly brushed against the back of my fingers. It was a mere brush of skin, but it felt as if I’d been electrocuted. I felt alive. In the moment. As if experiencing every feeling for the first time again.

Her scent—that fucking sexy smell that never failed to make me feel things—engulfed me with nostalgia.

It was only moments ago when I was so filled with rage … yet I felt no traces of it. Months of suppressed yearning, night after night of craving her in my sleep, all surfaced like a tornado tearing into my beaten heart.

Cara …

The ends of her hair teased the back of my neck before I felt her hot breath against my cheek. I let out an unconscious groan, more stimulated than I had ever been in my life. For a brief moment, the intimate proximity made me anticipate the touch of her lips, but she left me disappointed.

The exhilarating rush of push and pull … Boy, did she just pull me straight into her honeyed trap.

“What’s it to be … Do you want me to set you free?” she whispered in a deep raspy tone—the very kind that made men weak and hard as a teenager who just discovered porn. She took her time, letting her hot breath tease my cheek. She did it unhurriedly, taking her sweet generous time in torturing me until she dragged that wicked mouth of hers back to my ears, making me involuntarily shiver. “Cat got your tongue, hmm? Do you want me to free you … or would you like to have me tonight, River Ellis?”

Have her? She had no idea. I’d wanted more than that—I intended to savor her. All damn night. Every expanse of skin, every crevice, every fold. My lips would rediscover her once more, over and over, until she screamed for me and no other man. I craved for those treacherous lips to beg, imploring me to never stop fucking her, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Until I’d achieved that, this game would have no end.

My restricted position left me powerless. Words were the only weapon I had, one I intended to use to full advantage, or Cara would steamroll me into submission.

“I want to fuck you.” It was crude, but I didn’t want to give her the impression of how crazy—how unhinged—she made me feel.

She let out a husky laugh before the tip of her tongue grazed my ear. “How badly do you want this pussy?”

I swallowed hard, like the rest of my body. “Bad. Really bad.”

Her rogue tongue kept on with its sweet torture, driving me mental with profound need. “I want to play …” she went on, absolutely in control. “Will you play with me, River?”

Goddamn, she was hella sexy. “Yes.”

“I know you would …” She sounded pleased. “I’d like to play … the five senses.”

“Five senses?” I asked, and the unmasked hunger in my voice made her playfully bite my earlobe. “Damn it, woman, I want you on your knees.”

Cara laughed before she tsked-tsked. “Not yet, bad boy … Before we get to the good part, you have to play my game. The five senses—hearing, touching, smelling, seeing … tasting.” A thumb slowly brushed my lips before it trailed down to my throat, over my torso, over my stomach, only stopping above my raging member. “I want you to listen to me. Every word that comes out of my lips, feel it. Every touch, like a stroke of silk, soft and smooth, remember it. Learn the scent of my skin, ingrain it into memory. I want you to look at me and really see me. My face, the arches and curves … memorize every inch of my body … remember how I taste on your tongue … so will you play with me, River?”

“Yes.” She felt how hard I was, as if I would ever consider another option. “Fuck, yes.”

“Are you sure?” Cara pressed for the hundredth time, but this time, there was an edge to her voice. “You will just be a vessel. Any man who touches me, it’ll be his touch I feel. I’m his … Are you ready for that kind of challenge?”

My blood pressure spiked. Had she actually said that out loud? What the actual shit! “You’re kidding, right?”

Cara’s fingers brushed my cheek before she gradually slid the blindfold off my face. My lids immediately shot open. The room was dark. The only light coming was from the dark purple lights across from where I sat. It had a daybed surrounded by all kinds of pillows in different shapes and sizes. Cara stood to my left before she rounded in front me. Dressed in a black sheer bra and panties, she had matched her outfit with a black lace garter belt and stockings, her eyes heavily rimmed with kohl. My eyes dropped from her toned thighs to her shapely stems to her pointy killer black pumps.

After she had thrown the biggest insult in my life, my dick should be shrinking, but the greedy fucker held steady. It focused on one mission and one mission alone, and it couldn’t wait to have a taste of the succulent morsel that was mere inches away from my face. If I wasn’t shackled, I’d have yanked her by the hips, placed her groin to my face, and devoured her on the spot. Fuck the talk, all she did was spew more shit. Better get down to business, or it was going to be war out here. I doubted my dick would forgive me if I didn’t satiate its voracious appetite.

“I’m here for that.” My feral eyes directly drilled into her covered lace crotch. “It’s the cunt I want, Cara. Do what you gotta do, but I want that tight pussy. It’s not complicated to understand, is it?”

From her facial expression, it was obvious she hadn’t expected my reaction. What did she expect to see? A jealous, raging ex-boyfriend? Nah … that was not how I intended to play this out. She wasn’t far behind, though. Fuck, yes, I was mad as hell, but this wasn’t the time to unleash such emotions. So, she was getting my poker face until it was time for me to show my cards.

“Good,” she said before she shrugged and pasted on her famous red-carpet smile. “Now, where were we?”