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“I think you missed me,” he mused, his fingers sliding
between her thighs. Joanna knew she was slick, and she squirmed her hips as he
caressed her hot sex. “I might have to take you every day,” he whispered and
she tried to moan agreement. “Maybe twice a day if you’re going to be so
insatiable.” Joanna shuddered from head to toe, trying to communicate her
submission.

“Five more then you’re mine,” he muttered. “Let’s make them
count.”

The next five blows were harder, making Joanna’s skin sing
with pain. She knew her butt had to be bright red, just as she knew that Mike
found her irresistible that way. She squirmed after the last blow, wanting only
to feel his heat inside her. She heard him kick off his boots and shed his
jeans, but to her delight, he kept on the leather gloves, hood and jacket.

“You like the leather, don’t you?” he whispered as he fitted
his hands around her waist again. Joanna nodded and bent over, arching her back
in invitation. He chuckled and ran his fingers over her, making her shiver in
delight. “Bad Joanna. It’s my job to discipline you.”

Then he drove into her, as hard and as thicker as she
recalled. He filled her, stretching her wide, and she wanted only more. He
caught her breasts in his hands again, pinching and rolling her nipples as he
moved inside her.

“I like taking you when you’re helpless,” he whispered in
that rough voice, driving deep into her with steady strokes. “I like when
you’re captive and can’t get away.” His voice dropped lower and he gripped her
waist. “I really like when you tie yourself up for me, when you surrender and
prepare yourself to be claimed.”

Joanna moaned, because she loved that, too.

“You might be Mike’s, but I’m going to steal you,” he said,
his voice low and dark with threat. “I’m going to take you right under his
nose. You’ll be mine first and his second, and he’ll never know the
difference.” He pressed a kiss to her neck and whispered in her ear. “Unless
you mess up and I tell him. How will he punish you then?”

The possibilities were endless and delicious.

“Let’s talk about tomorrow,” he continued, stopping his
thrusts to lean over her and whisper in her ear. She was full of him, tingling
with anticipation. “You’re going to take the travel bondage kit Mike gave you
in your purse. We’ll use his gifts against him, right?”

Joanna moaned agreement.

“When you get to that stall, you’ll strip down. You’ll leave
the door unlocked. When I get there, I want to find you ready, in your boots
and corset, gagged and already wearing your wrist bonds.” He chuckled under his
breath as Joanna thrilled at the thought of it. “You’ll be ready for Mike, in
all his favorite things, but you’ll get me instead while he’s waiting for you.
Do you think someone will discover us?” He reached around and pinched her clitoris
lightly. Joanna squirmed. “What if Mike wants you in the coatroom afterward?
Will you be able to come?” His voice dropped to a hiss. “What if you get caught
both times? Every man in the place will want a chance at you, naughty Joanna.”

Joanna was both terrified and excited by the idea.

“Would Mike give you to them? No, he’d take you home, lock
you up, punish you himself.” He chuckled, sounding dangerous and unpredictable.
“Not me. I’d tie you down to the buffet and let them sample the daily special.
My compliments.” He fingered her wet sex and drove even deeper, his words
making Joanna wild. “Even better, I’d command you to strip naked and tie
yourself down, and you’d do it. All I’d have to do is drizzle you in chocolate
sauce.”

No. He wouldn’t.

But maybe he would.

“Would you like that, Joanna?” he whispered.

Joanna moaned.

“Moan louder, Joanna. Maybe the neighbors will hear you, and
we can give you to them first.”

The idea was so exciting—more than the reality would
be— that Joanna felt dizzy at the possibility. She loved that Mike knew
how best to overwhelm her, how to drive her higher.

“I know: we’ll blindfold you and make you guess who’s had
you. Wasn’t that Rex’s game? You had to keep playing until you got three
right.” His voice dropped to a hiss, even as he banged her harder and drove
deeper. “Would you ever get three right, Joanna? Or would you make sure the
game lasted forever?”

The idea was overwhelming. Joanna moaned again, feeling
dizzy. He pinched her clitoris hard and she came in a rush, even as he drove
deep inside her and spilled his own seed.

“You are trouble,” he murmured against her shoulder, then
pressed a quick kiss there. “I can see that disciplining you is going to take a
long, long time.”

Joanna couldn’t wait.

* * *

Chapter Four

The private room at the tattoo shop was black with a
spotlight that shone on the bench in the middle of the room. Zeke’s tools were
set up along one wall and there was a mirror on the opposite wall.

Louise couldn’t help but notice that he locked the door
behind them.

She also noticed the wide leather straps displayed on the
opposite wall.

“You got any ink now?” Zeke demanded from behind her.

“No. None.”

“Why not?”

“I never saw anything I wanted on my body forever before.
Not until I saw your drawings for the Plume commemorative.”

He seemed surprised, but it was true. Louise held his gaze,
unashamed that she was a snob about design.

“There’s a lot of shit out there,” he said.

“And a lot of mediocre artists.”

“They’re not artists,” he said with a disdain she shared. He
looked at her, the glitter of his blue eyes dangerous and exciting. “I liked
your work, though.”

“Did you go?”

His smile was secretive. “Twice. Once for the opening, which
was incredible, then later to make sure I still liked it as much.” He peeled
off his leather jacket and hung it up, turning to face her again. The room
seemed small and warm to Louise. “I did.”

His arms were almost completely covered with tattoos and she
wondered who had done his. He let her look, turning so she could see the backs
of his arms.

“Walking art,” she whispered and he smiled, so obviously
pleased that she knew this would work out just fine. “So, what happens next?”

“Show me.”

“But I don’t have any tattoos...”

He smiled crookedly and his voice dropped low. “Show me the
canvas, Louise.”

She liked how he said her name. The sound sent shivers
through her. She liked how he commanded her, too. She understood that she was
going to be claimed by him in numerous ways before she left this room, and she
couldn’t wait for that.

Louise stripped off her clothes, then hung them up when she
was completely nude, letting him look. He guided her to the mirror, turning her
before him as he looked at their reflections. She liked the weight of his hands
on her, and understood how he was assessing what would be best. He was more
than a foot taller than her, angular and lean, but muscled too. She really
liked the intensity of his scrutiny, the way he was thinking about his design.

He turned her so her back was to the mirror and touched her
back. “Here,” he said, tracing a curving line with his fingertip. His touch was
to the right of the base of her spine, swirling over her butt cheek. Louise
watched over her shoulder. “Not a tramp stamp, and big.”

Louise nodded agreement. “The feather and the type?”

“What style of type?”

“I like the script. It flows with the feather?”

He nodded. “It would suit you.” At her surprise, he almost
smiled. “You’re tiny. Block lettering or even the Gothic stuff would look too
heavy, more like a brand than a tattoo. I like the idea of swirling script.” He
picked up a marker and drew the feather freehand, the grace of his gesture
impressing Louise. He did the type as well, and she nodded approval of his
design. The placement was perfect.

“The type will get filled out, broader on the down strokes
and all that,” he explained. “Do you want color?”

Louise shook her head. “Black only.”

“Simple grace,” he murmured. “It’ll work.” He nodded, then
smiled at her, his gaze hungry. “It’s going to take a while when it’s that
big.”

“I already agreed to two nights,” Louise said, liking the
sense that they were negotiating.

“What about three?”

“I guess that depends how the first one goes,” she said
lightly, turning to the leather bench. “You’ll just have to convince me to come
back.”

Zeke put a hand on the back of her neck and guided her
closer to the bench. His voice dropped really low. “I’m feeling quite
persuasive tonight. Must have been those noodles.”

Louise started to laugh but he smacked her butt with one
hand.

“On your belly,” he commanded. “Feet in the leather slings
on either side.”

Louise did as she was instructed. She was almost crouching,
her knees pulled up by her sides, although it wasn’t uncomfortable. The leather
was smooth and cool against her stomach and she turned her head to lean her
cheek against it. She sighed, without meaning to do so, and Zeke chuckled.

“I really like leather,” she murmured and he laughed.

“Then we’re going to get along just fine.”

She wasn’t really surprised when he chose a wide belt and
bound her ankles to the slings. “Got to make sure you don’t move,” he murmured,
running his hand down her back. He coaxed her to lift her hips and slid a
pillow under her stomach so her butt was higher in the air. He chose another
wider belt and bound her waist to the bench, making her back arch.

“Comfortable?” he asked.

“I feel like an invitation.”

“You are.” He was in front of her, binding her wrists down
on either side of her head. He bent down and touched his lips to her temple.
“And one I intend to accept. Blindfold?”

“Is it leather?”

“It can be.”

“Then yes, please.” Louise licked her lips as her excitement
rose. “Master.”

The leather blindfold was heavy and he bound it firmly
around her head. It was the detail that made her feel completely captive and
her heart started to race.

“Very nice,” he purred and she heard his boots as he walked
around her, checking her out. She heard him doing something, although she
couldn’t guess what. Then his hand was on her wet sex, and his fingers sliding
between her labia. His touch was possessive, both demanding and tender, and
Louise felt herself surrender completely. When he left her to turn up the
music, Louise had the strange sense that she was floating in her bonds.

She heart him start the tattoo gun and it seemed that her
sex hummed along with it.

“One touch to learn what it’s like,” he murmured. He made
the first mark, she gasped at the brief burst of pain.

“No squirming now,” Zeke instructed, bracing his hand on her
back. “Be good, then I’ll give you want you want.”

Louise couldn’t wait.

* * *

Joanna found out the truth when she went to the editorial
meeting the next morning at work. She was sitting down with a fresh cup of
coffee, and nearly dropped it when she saw the article on the front page of
their last edition.

The Plume had been burned?

Joanna snatched up the paper and read the beginning of the
article, feeling sick. She couldn’t believe that the club had been destroyed,
but the picture made the truth all too clear. She learned in the article that
no one had been seriously injured, that a number of members had been arrested
and subsequently released, that the owners of the Plume were still being
sought.

“Any progress on the story?” the managing editor demanded.
Joanna looked up and realized he was talking to Rick, the new intern from the
journalism program at the local college.

“No, but I’m going down to the police station again today,”
Rick said.

“Wait a minute,” Joanna said. “Rick’s doing the story about
the Plume being destroyed?”

Her editor nodded. “It’s exactly the kind of hard news story
he needs to build his credentials.”

Joanna got to her feet. “But I did the original article on
the Plume, and I need experience in hard news.”

Her editor smiled. “Not to pull together your next column.
‘Ten summer stand-bys no wardrobe should be without.’”

Joanna took a deep breath. “I hired in here just like Rick,
to do hard news. I only took over the women’s pages because you didn’t have
anyone to do them.”

“And we still wouldn’t, if you stopped doing them now.” Marty
snapped his fingers. “Think of something about recipes for the holiday weekend,
too. You can’t get started on that too soon. Three easy suppers for unexpected
guests. That kind of thing.”

Joanna didn’t move. “Are you saying that I’m stuck doing
these frilly pieces forever?”

“Forever is a long time,” her boss said with a smile. “Let’s
just see what comes up in the year ahead.”

“I’d like to work with Rick on the article about the Plume.”

Marty removed his glasses. “That’s not your assignment. It
isn’t going to be your assignment.” He pointed his glasses at her. “Remember
that you were out sick last week.”

“If I hadn’t been sick, if I’d been here, would you have
given the Plume story to me or to Rick?”

Her boss looked away, then met her gaze. “I would have given
it to Rick, because I need that story and I still need ten ways to make
strawberries special. Rick can’t do that stuff and you can.”

“But I don’t want to do it. And you’re never going to hire
someone else to do it as long as I’m here!”

He put his glasses back on and gave her a hard look.
“Professionals don’t have tantrums, Joanna. That’s why you belong on the
women’s pages.”

Joanna put down her cup of coffee hard. “Well, that’s too
bad, because I’m not going to do them anymore.” She strode to the door of the
meeting room, then turned back to face her boss. “I quit.”