that would finally make sex into something worth having.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?” he asked.
“Selena.” She choked on the lump in her throat. “Who are you?”
“My name is Malachi.”
She rolled his name around in her mind. Malachi. Malachi. Malachi? This was the guy who’d laughed at a loaded gun? “Oh my God, it was you that night! I was starting to think I’d imagined the whole thing.”
“If a night with me involved imagination, I’m going to hope it was due to your desire for a repeat performance.”
He was looking at her as though she’d lost her mind. She hated this insecure feeling. As if she was desperate for some guy to remember her. “My ex is Jackson Wilhelm.”
She hoped that would be all it took to jog his memory, and fortunately she was right. How embarrassing would it have been to rehash the entire event only to discover he rescued damsels in distress from psycho ex-husbands all the time?
“I see.” He gazed at her thoughtfully before gesturing to the stocks. “After that experience, what made you decide to experiment with these?”
What had made her agree to try something like stocks? It was kind of extreme, even for the stuff she’d been into lately. Selena couldn’t keep her gaze from creeping around the room. Less than six feet away a hot guy begged to suck his lover’s cock. On the opposite side a woman panted with desire while her lover spanked her ass. Selena didn’t know why it fascinated her. Until walking down those stone steps from the upstairs club to this strange subterranean world, she’d had no experience with bondage.
“Call it a weak moment,” she said.
“A weak moment or giving in to your curiosity?” Malachi moved closer. His physical presence drew her in as if he had a gravitational pull she couldn’t resist. “You can’t deny that the others in this room are enjoying what they’re doing.”
He was right. The others were obviously enjoying the kink in their relationships. It didn’t seem to matter that they didn’t have any kind of real privacy. These people were happy to perform in front of an audience. In fact, she was starting to suspect they rather enjoyed the exhibitionism.
One couple in particular seemed utterly aware of Selena’s and Malachi’s attention. The woman was tied faceup on a bondage table. Her legs were spread and shackled. Her “master” held a whip in one hand and what looked like a dildo in the other. Selena watched utterly rapt as the master slid the sleek toy into his lover. The slow penetration left the woman panting for breath, her breasts rising and falling quickly.
Selena was transfixed. The woman cried out, her body arching in pleasure. As soon as she did, the whip found its mark across her full breasts. Selena’s body heated, her pussy quivering with excitement. She wanted to know what it was like to feel that bite. The curling heat of pain mingled with pleasure, pushing her beyond limits. Was something like that supposed to be a turn-on? What did that even mean?
“It’s a privilege to be watched like that, Selena.” Malachi’s voice came from right beside her ear. “A Dom wants to show off a good submissive, to let everyone know his slave is the most obedient.”
Her pride chafed at the word obedient . “Fuck obedience. That’s not for me.”
“Is that right?” His low laugh rippled across her consciousness, drawing chills. “Would you still feel that way if obedience could give you the most intense pleasure of your life?”
“That’s a ridiculous boast.” His arrogance was irritating. She should’ve walked away. Except a small part of her wondered if he could really deliver what he was promising. The most intense pleasure of her life? “Sex is just sex. It’s all about two people trying to wring whatever they can out of the moment and hurrying to be the first one finished just in case their partner falls asleep.”
“What if I could prove you wrong?”
His breath whispered