Master Class by Cassandra Carr Read Free Book Online Page B

shows.”
    “Desperation?”
    “Yeah, like if you don’t make sales, they’ll behead you at the exit.”
    “Quite a gruesome picture you’ve painted. Should I thank my lucky stars I don’t have to do trade shows?”
    Lisette grinned. “You might want to send up a little thanks, sir.”
    “If you hate them so much, why did you make them your life’s work? I’m just curious; I’m not attacking you.”
    “I started out doing market research, but as people got laid off all around me, they just kept piling more and more work on my lap. Then the company started doing better, so they hired a few people, but none of them had trade show experience. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you can cost your company a ton of time and expense. So I passed off some of my other tasks and started focusing exclusively on trade shows. I guess you could say in a lot of ways, it wasn’t a conscious career decision on my part.”
    Another full bottle of water was pressed into her hand, and she frowned down at the empty one Ryan removed.
    “Yes, you drank the whole thing in minutes. It seems you weren’t kidding about being dehydrated.”
    “Thanks. So how was your week, sir?”
    “Good. I taught classes, graded papers, beheaded a couple of students with low grades…” He grinned, and she laughed. “Overall, not very exciting.”
    There was a pause, and she lifted the second bottle of water to her lips, taking another small sip.
    “By the way, we’re not moving until you finish that.” Ryan jerked his head toward her water. “So drink up.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “We should talk about what we’re going to do tonight.”
    Lisette nodded and took another drink.
    “You look pretty stressed.”
    “Do I?” The words squeaked out, and he nodded.
    “You do. I’ve heard a good spanking is remarkably cathartic for stress relief.”
    Ryan tossed the statement out there so offhandedly, she wasn’t sure how to react. Did he want her to ask for a spanking? Did she want a spanking?
    He tapped her nose. “You’re overthinking. That’s not going to help the stress level.”
    “I’m—”
    “And stop apologizing.”
    “Reflex, sir.” Ryan studied her, and Lisette did her best not to squirm more.
    “Is that because you’re submissive?” She bit her lip. “Lisette?” His tone hardened in warning.
    The next words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. “Just because someone is submissive doesn’t mean they’re weak. So many people think that.”
    He straightened, his expression going cold.
    Shit, shit, shit.
    When he spoke, it was clear he was trying to hold his annoyance in. “I’m well aware submissives aren’t weak. I wouldn’t play with someone I thought was weak. Submissives give up so much to their Doms; there’s no way a submissive could be weak and make it in this lifestyle, in my opinion.” He turned up her chin to face him and then released her. “I may be new at this, but I’ve done a lot of reading and talked to Jack and Callie for hours. I will ask a question if I’m not sure about something, but I don’t expect any sub I’m playing with to talk down to me. Now would be a good time to give one of those apologies seemingly always on the tip of your tongue.”
    “I’m so sorry, sir. I didn’t mean—” She stopped and took a deep breath. “I know you’re knowledgeable. I think you just inadvertently hit a nerve.”
    “Tell me about that.”
    Instinctively she knew he wouldn’t let the subject drop. She took another deep breath as well as a swig of water before explaining. “An old Dom I was involved with was kind of…controlling.” Ryan remained quiet, and she went on. “I mean, I know Doms are, by their nature, controlling, but he took it overboard. And anything and everything would set him off. It was a few years ago, and I was younger. I thought that’s how D/s relationships were supposed to be—he made the rules, and I was supposed to obey them or be punished.”
    Lisette