Dark Xanadu by Sindra van Yssel Read Free Book Online

to play with her ever again, and if she could find someone who could give her the thrill she’d gotten a tiny taste of, being shackled against the cross, who wasn’t such a jerk, well, that would be very nice. But she wasn’t going to back down. “Skirt down. Now.”
    Gerald laughed again. “I give the orders, not you. Know your place.”
    She shrugged, and regretted it, the motion making muscles in her upper arms strain painfully. Oddly, that little bit of pain made the next part easier, even if it did doom any chance of her fantasies becoming reality. “Albatross!” she yelled.
    “Fucking hell,” she heard Gerald saying. He sounded really angry, and she was aware she couldn’t defend herself against him. Genna had told her she’d be safe but surely it would take people some time to react.
    “Don’t touch me!” she yelled. “Don’t you fucking dare touch me.”
    “It’s all right Angela,” said a voice, calm but with an edge behind it. “Give me that flogger or drop it, Gerald, I don’t care which.” Kent’s voice.
    She heard the sound of it dropping on the ground. “I didn’t do anything against her limits,” Gerald said.
    “Didn’t say you did. But she called the club safe word, and that’s it for the scene. I’ll get her down. You take a walk, cool down, and look for me when you get done.”
    “Bitch.”
    “That’s enough Gerald. Walk. Now.”
    She heard him stomp away. She felt Kent’s hands at her wrists as he undid the cuffs around her wrists. Her arches thanked him. Wearing heels was bad enough.
    “You picked a real winner, didn’t you?” Kent scowled. “Never mind that. I’ve got you now.” He knelt behind her, taking the cuffs off her ankles. She pulled her skirt down, aware that her ass was in his face.
    She was free. She wanted to be held, to be told that everything was okay, but then there were a lot of times in life like that, and for two years she’d been getting through them on her own. Gerald’s words rang in her head. No one here will ever want to play with you again. She didn’t even really want to turn to face him, but he took her hand and nudged her shoulder so that she would have to push back against him to avoid turning.
    His eyes locked with hers. “Are you all right now?”
    She nodded. “I’m okay. I just…I freaked out, I guess.”
    “What did he do to you?” Kent’s voice was level, but there was an undercurrent of anger there. Anger at her? She realized with relief that wasn’t the case. He was angry at Gerald. She remembered what he had said the first time she’d set foot in the warehouse, warning off Genna and Brennan. She’s under my protection.
    Still, it was embarrassing to explain. “I didn’t…I didn’t want to be exposed like that, and he wouldn’t…I didn’t…I guess I’m being kind of a prude, with all these people naked, and all, but—”
    Kent pulled her into his arms. “It’s okay. Everyone here has a right to dress the way they want to. Stark naked. Covered head to toe in leather. Even that guy over there in the polyester suit and tie. This place is about freedom.”
    “But I thought it was all about giving up freedom. Slavery.”
    Kent smiled. “Only a few of the submissives here would call themselves slaves. For most people, that word has a connotation of something full-time that extends past the bedroom and sex to every corner of their lives. Even that is something that happens of their own free will, because they want it. Submission and freedom seem contradictory to you, don’t they? But at the same time any of a number of people here would tell you that it’s when they submit to another that’s when they feel most free. Here they are free to be who they want to be, without being told that they’re not okay, that they aren’t conforming enough.”
    “Oh.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Four
     
    Kent let her go. She’d needed comfort; that much had been clear. He doubted she usually started