An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication
www.ellorascave.com
Masks
ISBN # 1-4199-0442-6
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Masks Copyright© 2005 Evangeline Anderson
Edited by Shannon Combs.
Cover art by Syneca.
Electronic book Publication: December 2005
This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written
permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-
3502.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales
is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.
Warning:
The following material contains graphic sexual content meant for mature readers. Masks has been rated
E–rotic by a minimum of three independent reviewers.
Ellora’s Cave Publishing offers three levels of Romantica™ reading entertainment: S (S-ensuous), E (E-
rotic), and X (X-treme).
S-ensuous love scenes are explicit and leave nothing to the imagination.
E-rotic love scenes are explicit, leave nothing to the imagination, and are high in volume per the overall
word count. In addition, some E-rated titles might contain fantasy material that some readers find
objectionable, such as bondage, submission, same sex encounters, forced seductions, and so forth. E-rated
titles are the most graphic titles we carry; it is common, for instance, for an author to use words such as
“fucking”, “cock”, “pussy”, and such within their work of literature.
X-treme titles differ from E-rated titles only in plot premise and storyline execution. Unlike E-rated titles,
stories designated with the letter X tend to contain controversial subject matter not for the faint of heart.
M
ASKS
Evangeline Anderson
Trademarks Acknowledgement
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the
following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:
Jell-O: Kraft Foods Holdings, Inc. Corporation
Jaguar: Jaguar Cars Limited Corporation
Masks
Chapter One
Chloe stared at the large man in the black leather mask standing on the doorstep.
She didn’t know what she has been expecting, but he wasn’t it. He was tall for one
thing. Taller than her, despite the four-inch, thigh-high boots she was wearing. Broad
shoulders strained the fabric of his well-tailored suit and direct blue eyes stared at her
through the eye holes of the mask. The man smiled, revealing white, even teeth.
He didn’t look like a man that wanted to be dominated. Of course, you couldn’t
judge by appearances in this case, Chloe reminded herself. After all, she herself looked
like a dominatrix, but nothing could be further from the truth.
“Mistress Sensua?” The man’s voice was a deep rumble, coming from the bottom of
his chest that Chloe could feel in her bones. “Mistress?” he said again, taking another
step forward.
Chloe stumbled backwards a step before she remembered she was supposed to be
in charge of this situation. Mistress Sensua—that’s me! She had never felt less in charge of
anything in her whole life—including herself.
How was she supposed to handle this? How was she supposed to dominate this
giant when she was shaking in her thigh-high boots? How had she gotten herself into
this in the first place? Oh, right—doing her sister a favor…
* * * * *
“Chloe, I need a favor. I need you to switch with me.”
“Are you insane?” Chloe rolled her eyes at her identical twin sister who was
currently lounging on her expensive memory foam mattress with her injured right
ankle propped on a mound of fluffy goose down pillows. Nothing but the best for
Zoe—somehow her twin always seemed to get what she wanted. But not this time.
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“This is really important. I have a meeting with a client that I can’t miss.” Zoe’s big,
green eyes begged pitifully. “It’s just a little favor.” She twisted a strand of her honey
blonde hair around one perfectly manicured finger and looked appealingly at her
identical twin. Same hair, same eyes, but Zoe’s hair was an artful tumble around her
perfectly made-up face while Chloe’s was up in a sensible ponytail, showing a face that
was bare of makeup.
Chloe sighed. “We haven’t done a switch since high school. And you remember
how that turned out.”
Zoe’s eyes took on a dreamy look. “Of course I remember. I lost my virginity to
Christian Agan in the shallow end of his swimming pool. Most romantic day of my
life.”
“Maybe you’re forgetting what happened to me while you were having the time of
your life.” Chloe frowned in frustration. “I was taking your place in advanced
dramatics and it just happened to be the day that you were supposed to deliver your
monologue in front of the entire school assembly. I’ve never been so humiliated in my
life!”
“Which is why you’ve never switched with me since,” Zoe finished for her. “But
this time it’ll be different, Chloe, I swear. It’s been ten years since high school—just let it
go.” She shifted on her black satin sheets and regarded her twin with a sparkle of
mischief in her eyes. “You might even have fun.”
“How am I going to have fun dressing up in one of your business suits and
pretending to be an investment banker?” Chloe crossed her arms over the sensible, gray
turtleneck sweater she wore. Zoe, of course, was lounging in bed in a black silk teddy,
but she always dressed impractically.
“Well…” Zoe bit her full bottom lip and then patted the bed beside her. “C’mere,
sis, I have something to tell you. Only you have to promise not to tell Mom and Dad. It
would kill them.”
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Masks
“What?” Chloe eyed her twin mistrustfully. When Zoe got that look in her eyes, it
invariably spelled trouble. Still, she perched on the edge of the luxurious bed, curious to
hear what Zoe had to say.
“I’m not exactly an investment banker,” Zoe confessed. “In fact, I’m not in any kind
of banking or finance at all.”
“What?” Chloe looked at her blankly. “But you were a business major in college.
What about all the meetings you have with clients, the way you’re always jetting off to
exotic, foreign lands for last-minute mergers? And how do you pay for all this?” She
swept out an arm, indicating the plush luxury of her twin sister’s palatial home.
“I’ll tell you but you have to promise not to be shocked.”
Chloe sighed. “As if anything about you could shock me anymore.” It was true—of
the two of them, Zoe was always the adventurous one. The one always getting into
trouble.
How they’d ended up with such totally different personalities when their faces and
bodies were identical was beyond Chloe, but she was more than willing to let her sister
have her wild life of travel and excitement. Chloe herself was perfectly content with her
own life even if it wasn’t as glamorous as Zoe’s.
She had a neat, little, one-bedroom house in a nice neighborhood and a rewarding
career as a first grade teacher. So what if Zoe always seemed to have the sexiest clothes,
the hottest dates, and the most exotic adventures? That was fine for her twin but Chloe
preferred security and stability to thrills and chills—or so she told herself.
“So what do you do?” she asked, seeing the indecision on her twin sister’s face.
“C’mon, Zoe, you can tell me. You know I won’t tell Mom and Dad.”
“Pinky swear?” Zoe held out her hand, the elegantly manicured pinky finger
extended.
“Pinky swear.” It was a ritual of their childhood. No matter how different they
were, they were still sisters and Chloe loved her twin with all her heart, even if Zoe was
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exasperating at times. She held out her own pinky, the nail painted an innocent pink. It
contrasted oddly with the fire-engine red of Zoe’s when they locked pinkies.
Zoe looked into her eyes. “Chloe, I’m a dominatrix.”
* * * * *
“You’re a what?” Chloe jumped off the bed, staring at her sister as though she’d
never seen her before.
“I’m a dominatrix,” Zoe repeated patiently. “I go by the name Mistress Sensua. And
before you get all upset and excited—”
“Too late,” Chloe interrupted her.
“Before you get too upset,” Zoe uttered. “I just want to make it clear that a
dominatrix is not some kind of high-priced call girl.”
“What is it then?” Chloe demanded. She was pacing the room in long strides, still
unable to quite wrap her mind around what her sister was telling her. She had thought
that nothing Zoe could tell her would shock her—how wrong she had been! She
whirled to face the bed where her twin was still lounging comfortably as though she
hadn’t just dropped a bomb of nuclear proportions. “I mean, you are having sex with
men for money, right? So what else can you call it?”
Zoe looked insulted. “I never have sex with my clients,” she defended herself. “I
dominate them. That’s what they want. That’s how I can afford to pay for all this.” Her
sweeping gesture took in her entire lifestyle. The expensive home, the trips to exotic
lands, the designer clothes.
Suddenly, something occurred to Chloe. The way they had gotten into this
conversation in the first place was because… She looked at her twin, her eyes wide.
“You’re a dominatrix and you want me to switch with you to meet one of your
clients?”
“Well, it’s hard to dominate anyone with a twisted ankle.” Zoe sounded grumpy. “I
mean, how can I walk all over this guy with an ice pack on my leg? My stupid ankle is
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Masks
so swollen—it probably won’t even fit into my thigh-high boots, which was what I was
planning on wearing.”
“Thigh-high boots? Walk all over him?” Chloe felt faint. Could her twin sister really
be serious?
“Chloe, this is a really important client for me—I need you on this.”
“Huh-uh. No way.” Chloe shook her head. “You’re crazy, Zoe. There’s no way I’m
doing this.”
“It’ll be easy.” Zoe smiled the same sweet smile that had landed Chloe up on stage
in front of her entire high school, trying to recite a monologue she’d never heard before.
“Just think of it as a blind date,” Zoe said coaxingly.
“That right there is enough to make me say no, let alone the dominatrix thing.”
Chloe frowned. “Every blind date you set me up on winds up in disaster.”
Zoe blew out a breath in frustration. “That’s because you’re such a stick in the mud!
You never take chances, you never risk giving away even a little part of your heart.
Admit it, Chloe—you’re stuck in a rut and maybe switching with me tonight is what
you need to get you out of it.”
Amazingly, Chloe actually felt herself weakening. It was true that she was too shy
to make much of an impression on the handsome alpha male types that Zoe was always
trying to set her up with. Every date ended with a chaste peck on the cheek, or worse, a
handshake. She just couldn’t seem to overcome her shy, sensible nature long enough to
really cut loose and get to know any of those men. They all seemed so arrogant and self-
assured while she was…not.
But wait a minute, what was she thinking? This wasn’t exactly like the usual date
Zoe always set her up on. The evening her sister was proposing for her was more likely
to end with a boot in the face than a kiss on the cheek. Specifically, her boot in some
strange man’s face.
“No. No, I can’t possibly.” Chloe shook her head, but her sister had sensed the
moment of indecision. Now she moved in for the kill.
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“Yes you can! It’s so easy you won’t believe it—I’ll tell you everything you need to
know,” she promised. “Besides, what else have you got going tonight? A juicy stack of
spelling tests to grade?”
Chloe wavered again. “It’s a grammar test, for your information,” she grumbled.
“And I do need to get it graded before Monday.”
“So you’ll do me this favor tonight and work on it tomorrow.” Zoe was already
getting off the bed, moving surprisingly well for a woman with a twisted ankle. “Come
on, let’s get you dressed.”
Feeling like she’d been suddenly plunged into the middle of someone else’s dream,
Chloe followed her sister to the large walk-in closet on one side of the room.
* * * * *
“Zoe, I just don’t know about this.” Chloe looked at herself doubtfully in her twin
sister’s full-length mirror. Zoe was still wearing the black silk teddy she’d been
lounging in all evening but Chole had lost her comfortingly bulky gray turtleneck. In its
place she was wearing a black leather bustier that molded her medium-sized breasts
into luscious milk-white scoops of vanilla wobbling on an exotic tray.
The bustier laced up the front with a thick leather cord and dipped down almost to
the top of the short black leather miniskirt she was currently wearing. The miniskirt had
actually been Chloe’s idea. Zoe had wanted her to wear a brief pair of leather panties
that barely covered her crotch along with the bustier and thigh-high leather boots, but
Chloe had point-blank refused. “I don’t care how ‘dramatic’ the look is,” she’d snapped
at her twin. “I want something else between me and this ‘client’ of yours besides a tiny
leather thong.” Zoe had relented and the result was the skintight leather skirt that Zoe
normally wouldn’t have been caught dead in.
Now she stood in front of the mirror, staring at her “new look” and wondering
where the tame and timid first grade teacher she knew so well had gone. “I look like a
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Masks
biker slut from hell,” she said blankly, watching the tops of her breasts jiggle like Jell-O
as she wobbled in the spike-heeled boots.
“You look like a dominatrix,” Zoe corrected her. “At least, from the neck down, you
do. It’s the neck up we’ll have to do something about. You need makeup desperately
and that hairstyle has got to go.”
“What’s wrong with my hairstyle?” Chloe clutched nervously at the blonde
ponytail that trailed down her back.
“It’s the same one you’ve had since high school, for one thing.” As she spoke, Zoe
was ruthlessly stripping the rubber band out of her sister’s hair.
“Ouch!” Chloe protested. “Change the hair if you have to, but I don’t like a lot of
makeup on my face.”
“You don’t have to wear a lot—you just have to know what to wear. Come into the
bathroom and let me work on you.” Zoe smiled excitedly and squeezed her hand. “I’ve
wanted to do this for years, but you wouldn’t let me.”
Chloe felt guilty. It was true that her twin had been after her to spend more sister
time together, but Zoe’s life always seemed so full—so different—and that was before
Chloe had known she was a dominatrix. The older they got, the more they grew apart.
“I guess we should try to keep up with each other a little better,” she said, getting
settled in front of the vast mirror that spanned an entire wall of her sister’s bathroom.
“That’s what I’ve been telling you for the longest time.” Zoe was already heating up
the hot rollers and running a brush through her hair. “But you kept putting me off. I
had to beg you to come over tonight.”
“I just thought you were too busy and you always seemed so successful—always on
the go. I felt…I guess I felt like we didn’t have anything in common.” Chloe admitted.
“Well, after tonight we’ll have a lot more in common.” Zoe was balancing a brush, a
hot roller, and a kit of exotic and expensive-looking makeup all at once.
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Chloe winced as the brush snagged in her hair. “Ouch! Watch it. So this means
you’ll come in and substitute for me the next time I want a day off from teaching first
grade, right?” She was joking, of course. Her twin and a roomful of kids would be a
disastrous combination, she was certain. But Zoe was unperturbed.
“Sure, I’ll sub for you. Don’t forget, I’m good at making people mind.” She winked
at her sister in the mirror and Chloe felt her mouth go suddenly dry. Could she really
do this? Did she want to? The decision was rapidly being taken out of her hands as Zoe
painted and perfumed her and hot-rolled her hair into a luscious tumble of honey-
blonde waves that Chloe was certain she never could have achieved herself.
“You look perfect,” Zoe said at last. “You haven’t looked this good since you let me
do your makeup and hair for our senior prom.”
“You mean the one where Michael Carlson puked down the front of my gown?”
Chloe stared at the exotically beautiful stranger in the mirror.
“Yes, that one.” Zoe grinned at her. “Truly a magical night. Now, just one more
thing and you’re ready to go.”
“What’s that?” Chloe looked at her apprehensively. What other accessory could this
outfit possibly need? A riding crop? A bullwhip?
“This.” Zoe reached into a special drawer and pulled out a mask.
“Oh.” Chloe’s voice was low and breathless. The mask was beautiful. It appeared to
be made entirely of feathers and it was every color imaginable. Emerald green, glowing
gold, deep crimson, and rich, royal blue melted together in a delicate creation. Taking
the offered mask delicately in her hand, Chloe saw that it would cover only the top part
of her face, framing her eyes in the multicolored feathers and leaving her nose and
mouth free. “It’s beautiful,” she said softly.
“It’s magic,” Zoe assured her. The mischievous glint was back in her eyes and she
smiled as she settled the mask gently on her sister’s face. “In a psychological sense,
anyway. When you’re wearing the mask, you can go anywhere and do anything. You
can be the person you always dreamed of being.”
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Masks
“I never dreamed of being a dominatrix,” Chloe objected. “That was your dream,
apparently.”
“It’s yours too, for tonight anyway. Now listen up, let me give you a few tips and
then you have to go. The appointment’s at nine o’clock sharp and you still have to get to
my office across town.”
“What?” Chloe looked at her through the beautiful mask’s eye holes. “I thought
everything was going to happen here.” In fact, she’d been counting on it. She’d had the
idea that if she got into trouble, she could always make some excuse to leave the “date”
for a moment and run find Zoe who could tell her what to do next. The idea of going off
to a strange location to meet with a strange man and “dominate” him with no backup
was absolutely terrifying.
“Here?” Zoe obviously found the idea laughable. “I don’t think so. This is my
home—I never mix business with pleasure.”
Chloe wanted to protest that her twin’s business was pleasure, or something like it
anyway, but Zoe was already pushing towards the front door and shoving the keys to
her Jaguar and directions to her “office” into her twin’s trembling hand.
“Now this should be very easy,” she was saying. “The client doesn’t want too much
rough treatment—I know because I screened him on the phone. All you have to do is
chain him to the Saint Andrew’s cross and make him call you ‘Mistress’.”
“Chain him to the what?”
“Then just tease him a little,” Zoe went on, ignoring the question. “Use some
feathers or maybe one of the lighter whips. Don’t worry,” she said, before Chloe could
protest again. “Everything is hanging neatly on pegs in the dungeon room. And yes,
you’ll figure out what room that is the minute you get there. If you hurry, you’ll have a
little time to get acclimated before he arrives.”
“But…but…” Chloe was suddenly realizing that she was committed to doing this
crazy thing and she didn’t know the first thing about how to go about it. “Wait a
minute, Zoe, I just don’t know—”
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“Don’t wimp out on me now—you promised.” Zoe glared at her. “Now listen, I’m
going to give you the three rules of being a dominatrix—follow them faithfully and
you’ll be fine.”
“Three rules?” Chloe was halfway out the door, wobbling crazily on the high boots
and feeling more exposed than she could ever remember being in her entire life.
“One,” Zoe said, counting them off on her long, scarlet-tipped fingers. “Don’t lose
control of the encounter. You’re the boss and you better damn well let the client know it
the minute he walks in the door.”
“But how do I—?” Chloe protested.
“Two,” Zoe continued relentlessly, cutting her off. “Don’t ever have sex with the
client, no matter how tempted you are.”
Chloe shuddered. “You don’t have to worry about me breaking that rule. But
how—?”
“Three.” And now Zoe was actually physically pushing her out the door. “Don’t
take off the mask.”
“Why not?” Chloe finally managed to get a word in edgewise, just as the door was
almost closed in her face. Zoe peered at her through the crack in the door with an
impatient frown.
“Just don’t. The mask lends distance and gives you authority. If you take it off,
you’ll be giving up your psychological advantage—giving him the upper hand. Getting
too close. Remember, this is a professional encounter, not a romantic interlude. He’ll be
wearing one too, by the way.”
“One what?” Chloe asked stupidly, feeling like her mouth was too dry to talk.
“A mask!” Zoe said and slammed the door in her face. Then she opened it a tiny
crack to say, “You’d better hurry, you know. It’s eight forty-five and you can’t be late if
you want to keep the upper hand—Mistress Sensua.”
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Chapter Two
The upper hand! I’ve got to keep the upper hand, Chloe remembered. Rule number one
was never lose control of the situation. But in order to lose it, she’d have to get it in the
first place, she reminded herself.
“Good evening, Mister Jacobs, um, I mean, Mark.” She drew herself up to the full
height afforded by the boots while mentally kicking herself. A frantic cell phone call to
Zoe during the drive to the “office” had gotten her the client’s name, but she wasn’t
sure if a real dominatrix would have used it or not. Should she have called him “slave”
instead?
Luckily, the client didn’t seem to mind her little informality. “Good evening,
Mistress,” he said softly. “I’ve been looking forward to this for a very long time.” He
stepped forward, crowding her, getting in her space.
Chloe could smell his aftershave—something spicy and dangerous, just like the
blue eyes that stared down at her from the black leather mask. The mask covered his
eyes and the sides of his face, but left his mouth and nose free, as the one she was
wearing did.
“So, how exactly is this supposed to go?” he asked. He was looking at her and
Chloe had the feeling he was raising one eyebrow sardonically behind the black leather.
Suddenly she knew what he was doing. He was taking control of the situation away
from her before they even got started. Rule number one was about to be broken and
they hadn’t even gotten through the door yet!
She lifted her hand and felt the cool brush of feathers against her fingertips as she
straightened her mask. It seemed to give her courage. Chloe took a deep breath and
stepped forward, looking the client in the eye.
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“I’ll tell you how this is going to go,” she said in a low, stern voice she barely
recognized as her own. “It’s going to go exactly how I say it should go. So get inside
and…and assume the position!” She didn’t know where she had gotten that—maybe
Clan of the Cave Bear? But it seemed to have the desired result.
“Yes, Mistress.” The deep voice was a little more respectful this time. Chloe felt a
surge of triumph as she slammed the door shut. She turned to see the large man—she
supposed she might as well keep calling him Mark—leaning with his hands against the
wall of the front hallway. He had his arms and legs spread like a man waiting to be
frisked by the police.
Abruptly her triumph turned to despair. Now that she had him in this position,
what in the world was she supposed to do with him? Mark seemed to be wondering
too. He turned his head to look at her and his direct blue eyes seemed to ask, Well?
“Face the wall!” Chloe barked, feeling like a twisted sort of drill sergeant. She could
see this client was going to be a lot more trouble than Zoe had foreseen. If she gave him
any room at all he was going to ride roughshod over her, exactly the way all of the
other blind dates her twin set her up on had. Just the thought of all those alpha male
assholes gave Chloe a shot of much-needed confidence. This time she had the upper
hand. It might even be fun—if she could figure out what the hell she was supposed to
do.
Well, she decided, staring at the broad shoulders of the man currently spread
against the wall, he was in the position to be frisked, so she might as well frisk him.
Would that establish her authority? She certainly hoped so.
She stood on her tiptoes to reach him, starting at the firmly muscled arms and
working her way down. She could smell his aftershave again, along with a natural
musk that must be just him. Was he nervous enough to sweat? If so, she might be doing
better than she’d thought.
“So,” she said, hoping she was doing a thorough job of searching him. “Did, uh, did
you bring any toys with you tonight, Mark?”
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“If I did, I’m sure you’ll find them.” His low voice still sounded a little too amused
for Chloe’s taste. If he was still making wisecracks, she wasn’t in control of the situation.
She tried to think what Zoe would have done. Maybe if she couldn’t scare him into
submission, she could get his attention some other way.
Chloe stopped the brisk patting search she has been doing and let her hands linger
on the broad chest in front of her instead. She wondered briefly if Mark had a smooth or
hairy chest. Why not find out? A good question—wasn’t she the one in charge here?
Since his back was to her front Chloe had to practically plaster herself against his
wide back in order to unbutton his crisp dress shirt, but somehow she didn’t mind.
From his low, masculine groan that her action had elicited, she assumed Mark didn’t
mind either. His spicy, dangerous scent filled her head as she spread the shirt to find a
smooth, muscular chest leading down to powerfully sculpted abs. She wondered what
line of work Mark was in. Whatever it was, he certainly kept himself in shape.
“Are you enjoying yourself, Mistress?” His smart-ass tone threw her, breaking her
concentration on his muscled chest.
“I’ll ask the questions,” Chloe snapped, deciding abruptly that it was time to move
on. She still felt a definite lack of control in this situation and it made her nervous,
shattering the fragile self-confidence she’d managed to build. But she couldn’t stop
searching him now or he’d be the winner of this little confrontation.
She let her hands slide lower, past the waistband of his pants to the bulging crotch.
Oh my God, is he for real? She hadn’t been with very many men—okay, two. She’d only
been with two other men. But Mark more than measured up to any other guy in her
experience. In fact, she could barely believe what she was feeling was real. It was a
damn good thing rule number two was “never have sex with the client”. She was pretty
sure she wouldn’t have been able to handle what Mark was packing.
“Uh, Mistress, that’s all me, not a toy.” Mark’s deep voice still held a hint of
amusement though it was sounding rather strained now. “And you might want to think
of it less as a ‘toy’ than a loaded gun. One that’s going to go off if you’re not careful.”
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Chloe felt a deep blush heat her cheeks. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said before she
could stop herself. Then she mentally kicked herself again. A real dominatrix would
never apologize, would she? A real dominatrix would know what she was doing. A real
dominatrix wouldn’t let her client fluster her so much that she lost the upper hand…
Apparently Mark had the same idea. Abruptly, he turned to face her and Chloe
found her wrists caught firmly but gently in his large, warm hands.
“What—?” she began, but he cut her off.
“This is all very amusing, Mistress,” he rumbled. “But it isn’t exactly what I had in
mind when I made this appointment.”
“But…but I don’t understand.” Chloe’s voice sounded weak and indecisive, even to
her. She struggled against his grip, but she might as well have been struggling against a
pair of steel handcuffs. He held her effortlessly, a small smile playing around his full
mouth. But the direct blue eyes behind the black mask were like laser beams in their
intensity.
“There’s nothing to understand.” He started walking through the townhouse that
doubled as Zoe’s office as though he owned it and knew the layout very well. Chloe
had no choice but to follow him since he still had her firmly by the wrists.
Rule number one—you’re breaking rule number one! Quick, say something—get back
control of the situation before it’s too late.
Chloe tried, she really did. “Let go of me!” she fumed in what she hoped was an
authoritative voice. But Mark just laughed at her.
“I don’t think so, sweetheart. I’m through playing things your way. It’s my turn to
run the show.”
“Why you…you…” Chloe couldn’t think of anything bad enough to call him. As
she was being dragged behind him, she noticed that his hair was as black as the mask
he wore and that it was cut short at the nape of his neck. That was nice, she didn’t like
men with hair that was too long. Also, he had a nice, tight ass…
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Wait a minute, what am I thinking? This man, this Mark Jacobs, had completely
turned the tables on her. Zoe’s rule number one was shot to hell and if she didn’t get
control of herself, rule number two might be quick to follow. Chloe’s head was spinning
as he led her down the hall to a door at the far end.
“In here.” His deep voice still sounded amused but his grip on her arms was
unyielding.
Chloe couldn’t help gasping aloud when she saw he had led her to the dungeon
room. She had barely had a chance to poke her head in this room before Mark had
knocked at the front door. Now it looked like she was going to get a much more
intimate view of it.
The floor was carpeted in a deep black and the walls were a stark white in contrast.
They could have been painted fuchsia, though, for all the difference it made. Almost
every square inch of wall space was devoted to different erotic tools and devices.
Everywhere Chloe looked there were whips, canes, paddles, even hairbrushes. There
were also various restraints including masks, ball gags and some things she didn’t even
have a name for.
The sight of so much foreign equipment, much of it obviously used for pain as
much as pleasure, finally broke Chloe’s nerve. “Please,” she gasped, uselessly tugging
at her arms. “Please, what are you going to do to me? Please, don’t hurt me.”
“Oh, hey.” He abruptly stopped dragging her and turned to face her, taking her
shoulders in his hands. He bent down to get a better look into her eyes. “I would never
hurt you, don’t you know that?” he asked, his deep voice a soft rumble.
“I don’t know anything,” Chloe protested. “I don’t know anything about you.”
“That’s all right.” He bent lower and placed a soft, closed-mouth kiss on her
trembling lips. “You’re about to find out. Come on.”
He pulled her towards the large, wooden frame shaped like a capital X which she
supposed must be the Saint Andrew’s cross Zoe had talked about. At all four corners of
the X were restraints made of supple but strong-looking black leather.
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Evangeline Anderson
“Please,” Chloe tried to protest once more as he buckled her wrists to the top part of
the cross. “Please, Mark…”
“No.” He shook his head decisively and stopped for a moment to look into her eyes.
“From now on, you can call me ‘Sir’ or ‘Master’, but my real name is off-limits to you
until I say differently. Understand?”
Chloe looked at him blankly for a moment and he got even closer, so close she
could smell peppermint on his breath and the warm musk of his big body.
“I said, do you understand?” he asked, his voice low and stern.
Slowly, Chloe nodded her head.
“I can’t hear you,” her new master said softly. “Answer me out loud.”
“Yes,” Chloe whispered.
“Yes, what?” he prompted.
“Yes, Master,” she said, her voice shaking.
* * * * *
Chloe could scarcely wrap her mind around the predicament she currently found
herself in. She was no longer even remotely in control of the situation. Zoe had sent her
into the lion’s den and she had no idea if she would come out again in one piece.
He said he wouldn’t hurt me. Yes, but she didn’t know anything about him. How did
she know he could be trusted? He was a strange man and he had her chained to a
wooden whipping post. At least he had chained her facing the room instead of the wall
so she could see what was going on, but that was a very small comfort indeed.
The only person who knew she was here was Zoe, who was probably propped up
on her satin sheets reading the latest cheesy romance and eating bonbons. I should have
known better than to do this, should have known better than to switch with her tonight! Chloe
had to admit that the situation she found herself in now was infinitely worse than being
up on stage in front of the entire student body trying to recite a monologue she didn’t
know.
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“There.” His voice woke her from the almost trancelike state that had taken hold of
her mind and Chloe realized he had just finished buckling her ankles to the cross with
the soft leather restraints. He’d been kneeling by her feet and she should have taken the
opportunity to kick him in the head and scream for help, but she’d been too caught up
in her thoughts to notice and she had missed her chance. Great going, Chloe. Just let the
guy strap you in while you do nothing to prevent it!
“Relax.” Mark stood and dusted his hands together briefly, as though finishing a
hard job and then smiled at her. He stripped off the black suit jacket along with his tie
and the crisp, white dress shirt which Chloe herself had already unbuttoned. He hung
the jacket, tie and shirt neatly on a peg that also housed a long, wicked-looking riding
crop and turned to face her, bare-chested.
“Now what…Master?” Chloe was quick to add when she saw the slight frown on
his face.
“Now you’ll get a taste of your own medicine, sweetheart.” He came closer, and
Chloe thought he looked even larger now that he was wearing nothing but the black
dress pants and the black leather mask. The muscles in his chest bunched and flexed as
he moved and she could see that she had been wrong—it wasn’t completely smooth
after all. There was a light dusting of coarse, black, curling hair between the flat copper
disks of his nipples. It led down his flat stomach in a narrow trail, past his abs and
disappeared into the waistband of his pants.
“Do you like what you see?” He stepped forward, giving her that white, frightening
smile. “Because I know I do.”
“Wait!” Chloe said desperately as he stepped even closer. “Wait, you don’t
understand. I’m not supposed to be here! This is all a big mistake—”
“Shh.” He placed a warm finger against her lips and shook his head slowly. “No
more talking unless I tell you to. Not unless you want me to use a gag. And you don’t
want that, do you, sweetheart?”
“N-no,” Chloe stuttered. “I mean, no, Master.”
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Evangeline Anderson
“That’s better.” He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand and for some
reason the gentle touch sent a shiver down her spine. To her surprise, Chloe could feel
her nipples hardening inside the black leather bustier. Surely this wasn’t turning her
on—was it?
“This is the way it’s going to be,” Mark continued, still stroking her cheek. “We’re
going to play a little game, have a little fun together. But I’m not going to hurt you, and
I’m not going to make love to you unless you ask me to.”
“M-make love?” Chloe actually felt faint. Rule number one was down the drain and
now he was talking about rule number two. What was she going to do?
“That’s right, make love.” He traced a slow, ticklish line of warmth down her cheek
to the sensitive side of her neck. “Maybe you think of it differently, I don’t know. But
I’m not here for a quick fuck.” His hand slid lower, caressing the heaving tops of her
breasts and Chloe felt like he was trailing a line of fire over her exposed flesh.
“If I take you,” he continued in that deep, maddeningly reasonable voice. “It will be
long and slow and utterly unstoppable.” He bent to brush a kiss against her neck,
sending warm shivers down her back. “I’ll spread your legs and fill you. Pin you to the
bed and ride you until you come all over my cock.”
She wanted to tell him to stop and to never stop. No one had ever talked to her like
this before—she’d never dreamed she wanted anyone too. And yet…suddenly she was
melting inside. He was telling her he wouldn’t take her unless she asked him to, and
telling her exactly how he would do it when she asked him at the same time.
“I…I don’t…” she started to say, but he stopped her with a kiss. This time his
mouth wasn’t as gentle and chaste as it had been before. He was firm but insistent,
seeking entrance until she opened her mouth to him, giving him what he wordlessly
demanded.
Standing with her hands raised helplessly above her head and her legs spread,
wrists and ankles fixed immovably to the cross, Chloe had never felt so helpless or so
hot. As yet, Mark had done nothing but caress the tops of her breasts and kiss her
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senseless, but she felt like she might melt into a puddle on the black carpeted floor if the
wrist restraints weren’t holding her up. Does this mean I’m some kind of pervert that likes
being tied up? she thought hazily as the kiss went on and on. Or did it just mean that she
liked Mark? His dominant but gentle ways, his hot words interlaced with promises not
to hurt her. His hands and mouth on her body…
He pulled back at last and placed a final sweet kiss on the corner of her mouth.
“That’s good, sweetheart,” he whispered, his breath barely stirring the hair at the nape
of her neck. “That’s very good. I think you’re ready to play.”
“Play?” Chloe looked at him, wishing she had a hand free to touch the feathered
mask she still wore for a boost of confidence. What did he mean by “play”?
Mark answered with actions instead of words. He reached for the front of her
bustier and began unlacing the leather cord that held it in place. His hands were warm
on her skin as he bared her breasts to his gaze.
“Please…” Chloe bit her lip, unable to stop the small, helpless cry from escaping.
The other times she’d had sex had been in the dark. Sweaty fumblings that were almost
anonymous because of the lack of light. She’d never had a man undress her before.
Never had a man look at her so hungrily, as though she was a work of art, the most
beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
“Shh,” Mark told her again, softly. He had stepped back for a moment to admire his
handiwork. “Do you know how gorgeous you are, standing there like that? How
absolutely unbelievably beautiful you look?” He stepped forward again and cupped
both her breasts in his large, warm hands. Chloe shivered helplessly at the sensation of
his calloused palms against her erect and sensitive nipples.
“Oh God,” she whispered softly. “What are you going to do to me?”
“What do you want me to do?” he teased gently. He seemed to have forgotten
about his command that she call him Master, which was a good thing. Chloe could
barely remember her own name at this point, let alone anyone else’s.
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Evangeline Anderson
Mark pinched her nipples gently, twisting the sensitive points until she moaned at
the cruel pleasure. He released her gently. “Did that hurt?” he asked, softly.
“A…a little,” she admitted.
“Would you like me to make it better?” The deep voice held a sensual promise she
couldn’t ignore…couldn’t resist.
“Yes,” Chloe breathed. The next moment his hot mouth was sucking her, taking as
much of her right breast inside as he could at once while he continued to pinch and
twist her left nipple without mercy.
“Please… Oh God, please!” Chloe found she was thrusting her chest out, trying to
give him better access to her bare breasts. His mouth on her was hot and wet and
utterly right. She could feel the heat and moisture gathering between her spread thighs
as he worked on her relentlessly. Over and over, from right to left and back again he
teased her with his tongue and teeth, gently nipping at her sensitized nipples as she
writhed against the smooth wood of the Saint Andrew’s cross at her back.
Finally, when she thought she could stand it no longer, he pulled back. “Is that
good, sweetheart?” His voice was low and needful as he looked into her eyes.
Chloe moaned in frustration. Of course it was good! Why had he stopped?
“How good was it? How much did you enjoy it?” Piercing blue eyes behind the
black leather mask searched her own and Chloe found she couldn’t look away. Mark’s
hands were on her waist now, traveling slowly down her hips over the black leather
skirt. He leaned forward and whispered his last question in her ear. “Are you wet for
me, sweetheart?”
Chloe looked at him, unable to answer. The question was so shocking in its
intimacy that she couldn’t begin to formulate a reply. No other lover had ever asked her
anything like this before.
“If you don’t answer me I’ll have to find out for myself.” Mark’s hands traveled
lower, playing with the bottom hem of the short, black miniskirt which had somehow
risen to the tops of her thighs. “Do you want me to find out for myself?”
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He was giving her a choice and Chloe knew she ought to say no or at least shake
her head. But somehow she just couldn’t.
Mark leaned closer, his breath warm in her ear. “If you want me to touch you,
spread your legs for me.”
With a soft little moan, Chloe did as he said. Her legs were already spread wide by
the position of her ankles at the bottom of the cross, but now she spread her thighs even
wider, welcoming him in.
“That’s right, spread wide for me, sweetheart.”
She felt his hands raising the hem of her skirt past the tops of her thighs, leaving her
with nothing but the brief, black leather thong between them. Then Mark was pulling
the thong aside, baring her sex to the cool air and his hot gaze. Chloe gasped as he
cupped her mound in his hand, pressing upwards to increase the contact and grind his
palm against the sensitive bundle of nerves at her center.
Then he was spreading the lips of her pussy, rubbing blunt fingertips lightly over
her throbbing clit, testing her heat and moisture as he explored her wet cunt.
“God…!” The sound was torn from Chloe’s throat as he touched her. Her knees
buckled and she might have fallen if it wasn’t for the cross’s restraints.
“Do you like that, sweetheart? Do you like it when I pet your sweet, wet pussy?”
Mark’s voice was low and hot. His gaze burned into her as two long, strong fingers
entered her and began to fuck into her wet depths.
Chloe threw back her head and moaned. The sensation was so intense. It was almost
too much and yet she knew she didn’t want him to stop.
“Beautiful.” Mark was watching her hungrily as she gasped and moaned and
writhed on his fingers. “So beautiful when I touch you like this. I wonder if you taste as
good as you look?”
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Evangeline Anderson
His words barely registered with Chloe. In fact, they didn’t really penetrate her
brain at all until he was on his knees in front of her, raising her skirt even higher and
pressing his face between her thighs.
“Wait a minute!” she gasped, trying to draw back. For the first time she would have
stopped him if she could. This was something else outside her limited realm of
experience. It came to her again that she barely knew this man, this Mark, whoever he
was. Why did he want to do this?
He must have felt the tension in her thighs and heard the reluctance in her voice.
Looking up, Mark met her eyes with his blazing, piercing gaze. “Trust me,” he breathed
softly. “You know I won’t hurt you. Just spread your legs for me and let me taste you,
sweetheart.”
“But…but I don’t…”
His breath on her cleft and his warm fingers on her thighs were melting her
protests. Feeling like she was drowning and burning at the same time, Chloe allowed
herself to relax and let him in.
“So beautiful,” she heard him murmur again from his position on his knees before
her. “So hot and sweet.” And then he was spreading her lips again and pressing a long,
hot kiss to her open cunt, tasting her as she had never been tasted before.
“Oh God!” Chloe’s hips bucked in reaction to the kiss and the hot, wet suction he
applied directly to her swollen clit. He was pressing his face between her thighs, urging
her to open even further for him, tonguing her sensitive folds, kissing her sex the way
he had kissed her mouth moments earlier. Then she felt his tongue inside her, pressing
deep as his fingers had moments before. He had his arms locked around her thighs,
surging forward as he ate her, tongue-fucking her pussy as though he would never be
able to get enough of her sweet, salty taste.
Chloe heard soft, breathless moans coming from somewhere and realized she was
making them herself and she couldn’t stop. She had never felt anything like this. The
sensation of being spread and feasted on was utterly new and utterly addicting.
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He pulled back long enough to whisper, “Delicious. You taste so damn good,
sweetheart.” Then he was pressing back between her thighs, spreading her even wider.
He sucked her clit into his mouth again and Chloe could feel his long fingers entering
her once more, pressing upwards as he ate her. She was close, so incredibly close… The
hot sensations of his mouth on her clit and his fingers inside her were shoving her over
that divine edge she had experienced only rarely before.
Then his fingers moved suddenly, withdrawing from her cunt and pressing further,
entering her back hole with the moisture he’d collected from her pussy to ease the way.
It was the hottest, most shameful thing anyone had ever done to her and Chloe
didn’t know if she loved it or hated it, but the unexpected action sent her flying over the
edge of orgasm, helplessly calling his name.
“Master…Mark…oh God…!”
At last, he looked up from his place between her legs. He was panting slightly and
his mouth was wet with her juices. Chloe could feel the wanting that burned in his eyes
reflected in her own.
“Please,” she whispered brokenly. “Oh, please…”
“Please what?” he asked, his deep voice tense. “What do you want me to do,
Chloe?”
It didn’t even register with her that he had used her real name. The only thing she
could think of was her need—the overwhelming need that was pushing her to do what
she knew she shouldn’t. The second rule is never have sex with the client…a voice
whispered somewhere inside her head. But Chloe couldn’t care less for rules at that
point—she only knew about hunger. The hunger she felt in her own body and the
hunger she heard in her lover’s voice.
“Please,” she whispered. “Please, Mark. Make love to me.”
* * * * *
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Evangeline Anderson
The next thing she knew, he was unbuckling her wrists and ankles from the cross’s
restraints.
“What—?” She tried to make sense of his action with her lust-hazed mind.
“Can’t make love standing up,” he replied, finishing one wrist restraint and moving
on to the next. “You can fuck, but that’s not quite the same thing. Besides,” He stopped
a moment to look her in the eye again. “I want you under me. I want to feel your long,
pretty legs wrapped around my waist while I thrust into you. While I make love to
you.”
He finished unbuckling the last restraint and dipped his head to kiss her again. This
time Chloe could taste herself on his lips, sweet and salty and hot. It was unbelievably
erotic. She felt a new surge of need wash over her as he fed her the taste of herself on
his tongue, sharing his pleasure in her feminine flavor with her.
Then Mark was swinging her up into his arms and carrying her from the mostly
untouched dungeon room to another room she’d barely gotten a glimpse of—the
bedroom.
For all that Zoe claimed not to sleep with her clients, the room certainly looked like
a set for seduction. The king-sized bed was draped in red satin sheets and the lighting
was low and romantic.
Mark laid her on the bed and began pulling off the rest of her dominatrix outfit,
making her nervous all over again.
“Wait a minute…what…?” Chloe attempted to cover herself with her hands,
suddenly shy despite everything he’d just done to her. The red satin felt cool against her
back and thighs and a small shiver of goose bumps ran over her skin.
Mark stopped what he was doing and stroked her cheek, looking into her eyes. “I
want to feel your skin against mine, not all this leather. I want to completely see your
beautiful body while I touch you—while I enter you. Is that all right, sweetheart?”
“I…” She looked back at him, meeting his gaze. It was unnerving to feel such
intimacy with a man she’d only met an hour before. “I guess so,” she said at last. But…”
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Rule number three… Never take off the mask. She reached up to touch the cool feathers that
surrounded her eyes. “But not the mask,” she said. “All right?”
“If that’s how you want it.” He sounded a little sad for reasons she couldn’t define
or explain. Maybe it was just her imagination. “I’ll leave mine on too,” he said, going
back to work on her skirt.
“All right.” She felt both relieved and disappointed. But it was important to
preserve her anonymity, wasn’t it? After all, it wasn’t like she would ever see him again
after tonight.
Her worried thoughts were swept out of her head as Mark finished undressing her
down to the last boot. She was completely nude except for the mask she still wore and
then he started pulling off his own clothes.
His body was magnificent, the broad chest and shoulders tapering to narrow hips
and long, muscular legs dusted with the same coarse black hair that grew on his chest.
But it was his cock that caught and held Chloe’s attention. Her earlier assessment of his
size and length while she had been frisking him turned out to be right on the money.
He was big—maybe too big. She felt her eyes widening and her breath coming short.
God, he would tear her apart with that monster!
Mark’s gaze followed hers to the thick shaft nodding between his legs and he
seemed to understand her fear. “Hey, sweetheart,” he whispered softly, stroking her
cheek. “It’s all right. I’ll make sure you’re wet enough to take me and we’ll go nice and
slow. I promised not to hurt you, didn’t I?”
Slowly, Chloe nodded. “It’s just…” Her voice felt lodged in her throat. “It’s just that
I haven’t been with that many guys and you’re really… It’s just a little scary,” she
finished softly.
“You don’t ever have to be scared of me.” His deep voice was caught somewhere
between sorrow and tenderness. “I’ll never, ever hurt you. Here.” He produced a
condom from somewhere and tore open the small foil wrapper. “Why don’t you help
me with this?”
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Evangeline Anderson
Shakily, Chloe rose from her supine position and took the condom he was offering
in one hand. Then, hesitantly, she reached for him.
“It’s all right—go ahead,” Mark urged gently. “Let me feel your hands on me.”
Feeling as if her heart was beating in her mouth, Chloe did as he said. His shaft was
warm and satiny smooth in her hand. It seemed to pulse in time to his heartbeat as she
caressed its length with growing courage. She reached lower and cupped the tight,
lightly furred pouch that hung below his cock, learning him with her fingertips as he
knelt above her.
“Oh God…” His low, appreciative groan startled her and Chloe realized she had
been stroking him for more than a minute when she was supposed to be putting on the
condom.
“Sorry,” she whispered, beginning to fumble with the small latex coin. “I just…”
“No, don’t apologize.” He stroked her hair gently. “Your hands are so small and
soft—feels wonderful. But I need to be inside you, now.”
“All right.” Chloe finished with the condom and lay back on the bed. Her heart was
pounding so hard it felt like it was trying to batter its way right through her ribs. Every
beat seemed to shake her entire body. She tried to keep her thighs from trembling as she
spread her legs for him, wondering what it would feel like to have that thick shaft
inside her.
But instead of shoving into her at once, Mark began to kiss her again. He trailed
warm kisses along her neck and down between her breasts to her sensitive nipples once
more. His hot, wet tongue glided over the quivering plane of her belly and dipped into
the rounded cup of her navel before reaching her sex once more.
“Spread a little wider for me, sweetheart,” he whispered, his warm breath puffing
against her inner thighs. His large, warm hands caressed her legs as he spoke. “I want
to taste that sweet pussy one more time and make sure you’re ready for me.”
The hot, erotic words undid her and Chloe felt her thighs relaxing once more under
his touch. His mouth was softer this time, more gentle and less demanding, as though
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Masks
he realized that she must be sensitive from his earlier attentions. Chloe moaned,
helpless to hold back the soft sound as he worked on her. His hot tongue explored her
thoroughly once more, tracing magical figure eights around her sensitive clit and
pressing deeply into the entrance to her cunt as though he was reaching for her heart
with every thrust.
Slowly, she felt herself climbing the peak of pleasure once more. Her thighs
tightened involuntarily around his head and she reached down to feel the cool leather
of his mask and the warm silk of his thick black hair as he ate her gently but
relentlessly.
Just as she thought she was going to explode once more, Mark drew back from her,
panting. “Oh…why…?” She couldn’t keep the disappointment out of her voice. She had
been so close.
“Because I want to feel you come all over my cock,” he said, answering her half-
articulated question. “You’re ready for me now and I need you, sweetheart. Can you
spread yourself for me and let me in? Let me all the way into that sweet, wet pussy?”
Chloe bit her lip. “Yes,” she whispered, not trusting herself to say anything else.
God, she’d never been touched this way, tasted and stroked and made love to so
sweetly and relentlessly. She wanted him inside her more than she’d ever wanted
anything. All the fear she’d felt was washed away with the need he’d built inside her
with his hands and mouth and tongue.
“All right.” She felt the large, plum-shaped head of his cock find its way to her
quivering sex and lodge securely in entrance to her body. There was a feeling of
pleasurable pressure as he slipped inside her, making her gasp a little at his size.
“All right?” Mark said again and this time it was a question. He held steady with
just the head of his cock inside her, waiting to be sure he wasn’t hurting her in any way.
Chloe felt her heart swell even as she nodded. She had never had such a considerate
lover before and it made her sad to think that after tonight, she probably never would
again.
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“Good.” He nodded when he was sure she was all right and continued his slow
slide into her body. Inch by thick inch he filled her, pressing deeper and deeper into her
sex, joining them completely. At last Chloe felt him bottoming out inside her, the thick
head of his cock kissing the mouth of her womb and she knew he could go no deeper.
Mark looked down at her, his blue eyes filled with need. “All the way in you now,
sweetheart. All the way in your tight, little pussy.” He leaned down and captured her
mouth, holding still inside her as he kissed her thoroughly.
Chloe gasped. “I know.” She could feel him pulsing inside her, stretching her even
though he wasn’t moving an inch. Feeling daring, she leaned up and stole a kiss of her
own. “I thought you were going to make love to me.”
He groaned softly. “I am, sweetheart. Wrap you legs around me now. I want to feel
you all around me while I fill your pussy.”
Chloe wrapped her legs around his narrow, muscular hips, welcoming him fully
into her body. She was still trembling on the edge of orgasm and his slow entry had
done nothing to diminish her desire. When Mark pulled back and pressed forward
again, a low moan was drawn from her lips. Oh God… In me so deep… He thrust again
and again and then Chloe bucked her hips to meet him.
She could feel the need building inside her, relentless and deep, pushing her
steadily towards the edge of orgasm as he filled her over and over with his cock. She
closed her eyes at the intense pleasure, unable to look at him while he took her so
intimately.
“No.” Mark’s deep voice was hoarse. “No, Chloe, look at me. I want to see it in your
eyes when you come.”
Her eyes flew open behind the feathered mask and she felt herself drowning in his
piercing blue gaze as he thrust into her over and over, taking her, making her his. The
intense way he held her gaze was unnerving but undeniably erotic. That he should care
so much about her pleasure was a revelation to Chloe—was something she had never
had with any man before.
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“Oh God…oh God!” Someone was moaning out loud, shamelessly announcing her
pleasure and Chloe realized it was her. She’d always been quiet during sex before, but
now she couldn’t help herself. Mark wasn’t letting her help herself. He kept pounding
into her, forcing the shouts from her lips, causing the incredible pleasure that was
building inside her to the inevitable conclusion. After a moment, Chloe realized he was
talking to her as he thrust into her body.
“That’s right, Chloe, come for me, sweetheart. Want to feel you coming all over my
cock. Give it up to me. That’s right…give it up.”
His deep voice urging her to let go released her orgasm almost as much as his thick
cock pounding inside her. Losing herself utterly in the pleasure he was giving her,
Chloe threw back her head and sobbed breathlessly as she came.
“That’s right… Oh God, I can feel you coming all around me. Oh, sweetheart,
you’re so beautiful when you come.” Mark rose to his knees and grasped her thighs,
thrusting as deeply as possible inside her until Chloe thought she would die from the
added sensation. She felt a deep pulsing inside her as he pulled her tight and close,
pressing into her sex and she had the brief, crazy wish that there was no condom
separating them. She wanted to feel him coming inside her, filling her unprotected cunt
with his hot cum.
Then Mark collapsed gently on top of her, breathing deeply in her ear. She wrapped
her legs even more tightly around him, unwilling to lose him, unwilling to lose the
connection she had felt between them as he rose above her, filling her with himself. It
was the most intense and intimate sex she’d ever experienced and she found it difficult
to believe that it had been with a total stranger.
“Don’t want to crush you,” Mark said at last. As he slipped from her body to lie
beside her on the bed, Chloe felt a sadness she couldn’t explain.
* * * * *
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“Mmm.” The deep voice in her ear was contented but still interested. “That was
wonderful, sweetheart.”
“It was, wasn’t it?” Chloe rolled over to face him, feeling the feathers of her mask
tickle her face as it pressed against the goose down pillow. She supposed she should get
up and get dressed and send Mark on his way now that the encounter was over, but
somehow she couldn’t bring herself to do that. As silly as it sounded, she had felt a real
connection to the man beside her and she was reluctant to let it go.
He smiled at her, the blue eyes warm behind the black leather mask. “You’re
beautiful, you know that?”
Chloe blushed with pleasure. Actually, she didn’t know it. People were always
saying how gorgeous Zoe was, but somehow her twin seemed to know how to make
the most of their honey blonde hair and dark green eyes. Chloe tended to fade into the
woodwork, too shy to go out and demand attention the way her twin did. Although she
hadn’t been acting very shy tonight, she reminded herself.
“You’re not half bad yourself,” she said softly. She moved a little closer and the
feathers of her mask tickled her again, making her itch. Impatiently, she rubbed the side
of her face. “Tell me about yourself,” she said, before she thought about it. “I mean,”
she backpedaled hastily. “If you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind, but it’s getting cold in here. Hang on.” He reached down to the foot
of the bed and pulled up the red satin sheets and a matching red and black comforter.
“There, better?”
“Much.” Chloe snuggled under the covers grateful for their warmth.
“If you’re still cold, you could come over here.” He patted the side of his chest and
smiled at her invitingly.
Feeling a little awkward, Chloe snuggled next to him, laying her face against his
broad chest as he wound his arm around her shoulder. But the feathered mask got in
the way again.
“Hey,” he protested as she moved against him. “That tickles!”
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Chloe looked up at him. “I’m sorry—it’s bothering me too. And yours must be
getting hot, huh?” She looked at the black leather mask that framed his eyes and
covered the sides of his face.
He shrugged noncommittally. “I can stand it.”
“Well, I can’t.” The third rule is never take off the mask! her sister’s voice whispered
inside her head. But she had broken all the other rules and besides, she felt like taking a
chance. A chance on herself and on the man lying beside her in the bed. Chloe had told
herself she felt a real connection to him—but how would she know unless she revealed
her true self and asked him to do the same?
She sat up in bed abruptly and looked down at him. “Let’s take them off, what do
you say?” Her fingers were already tugging at the band that held the beautiful
feathered mask in place as she spoke.
Mark’s blue eyes were doubtful. “I don’t know…”
“Oh.” Chloe stopped pulling at the mask abruptly. How stupid she had been! Of
course he didn’t want to take off his mask—this was supposed to be an anonymous
encounter. Zoe’s voice rang in her head again. This is a business transaction, not a romantic
interlude, her sister had said.
Chloe wrapped her arms around herself, covering her breasts protectively. “I’m
sorry, that was a stupid suggestion. I…I just didn’t think.” Just because she had felt a
connection didn’t mean that Mark had, she told herself.
He picked up on her mood immediately. “Hey, no, it’s not like that,” he protested,
sitting up as well. “It’s just that…well, if I take off the mask, you might not like what
you see beneath.”
Chloe frowned. “Are you speaking literally or metaphorically?”
“Whoa.” He grinned. “You must have been an English major.”
“Elementary education,” Chloe said, feeling herself beginning to relax a little.
“What about you?”
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“Computers and communication.” He grinned at her. “I’m a complete geek.”
Chloe allowed her gaze to travel the length of his body, lingering appreciatively on
the well-muscled chest and arms. “You, uh, certainly don’t look like one.”
He laughed. “What can I say? I’m a geek that likes to work out. As far as that goes,
I’ve never seen an Education major that looked quite like you, either.”
Chloe blushed and looked down. It was true she kept in shape, she just didn’t wear
provocative clothing to show it off the way Zoe did. “I jog,” she said. “Usually in the
morning before I go to work.”
He groaned. “A morning person! Here I was halfway in love with you and you tell
me you’re a morning person.”
His words were obviously joking but Chloe’s heart skipped about half a beat
anyway. “Yup, just can’t help myself. I’m up with the sun.” She tried to keep her words
light. She was waiting for him to ask how an Elementary Education major had become a
dominatrix in the first place and then she would have to tell him everything. But the
question didn’t come. Instead, Mark tilted her chin to look into her eyes.
“I’d like to see you up with the sun sometime. I bet you look even more beautiful
with sunlight on your hair.”
His words decided her—she was going to take a chance. She looked up at him.
“Look, do you want to take off the masks or not? I mean, I’ll understand if you don’t—
this is supposed to be anonymous and all that but I thought…”
“I thought so too,” he said quietly. “All right, I guess we’d better before this goes
any farther. You first.” He propped himself up on one elbow and nodded at her.
Feeling self-conscious, Chloe reached up and slipped off the feathered mask,
shaking her hair free. She looked at him, completely bare for the first time, the last rule
broken. “Now you,” she said bravely, gesturing at the leather mask.
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His deep blue eyes looked suddenly sad. “All right, you asked for it,” Mark said at
last. He reached up and slipped off the black leather mask, his gaze never leaving her
face. “Well? Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Chloe bit back a little gasp as she realized for the first time why the mask had
covered so much of his face, leaving only his nose and mouth free. The entire left side of
his face was a twisted mass of red and white scar tissue, from his high forehead to the
bottom of his square jaw.
“Well?” he asked as she studied his face. The right side was completely normal—
handsome, even. But the scars on the left were dramatic and hard not to look at. They
looked old, as though they had happened a long time ago in a very painful accident.
“I knew this was a bad idea.” Mark frowned and turned away from her when she
didn’t answer him. “It’s always the same,” he muttered. “Don’t know why I thought
you’d be any different.” He sat up abruptly and threw back the covers, obviously ready
to go.
“No—no, wait!” Chloe put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back around to face
her. “Please,” she said softly. “You just…surprised me, that’s all.”
“Yeah, it’s surprising all right, isn’t it?” He laughed bitterly. “Look, maybe I should
just go.”
“Please don’t.” Chloe moved closer to him, not wanting to lose him, especially over
something as petty as this. “Stay,” she said softly. “I know we don’t have much in
common, what with me being a morning person and all, but I want to get to know you
a little better.”
“Well, technically, we already ‘know’ each other in the biblical sense.” He laughed
at her gently when she blushed. “C’mon now, that’s not exactly a bad thing, you
know.”
Chloe smiled at him, glad that her small joke had lightened the mood. “Come back
to bed and let’s talk,” she urged.
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“You sure you want to?” There was hope in his deep blue eyes that almost broke
her heart.
“Of course I’m sure.” She scooted closer to where he was sitting on the side of the
bed. “How did it happen?” she asked, sensing that they needed to get his history out of
the way before they could go into anything else.
Mark sighed heavily. “Fire when I was a kid. I was the only one home and it was
some kind of electrical thing that started it—they’re still not sure what exactly. Anyway,
I was trapped under a burning beam for a while—thought I was going to die. My
clothes mostly protected my body, but my face…” He shook his head. “A fireman got
me out just before the whole place collapsed.” He frowned. “I was grateful that he
saved my life but at the same time, sometimes I wished he hadn’t.”
“Why?” Chloe frowned. “How can you say something like that?”
Mark gave her a crooked smile. “You sound like my mom now. I wished he hadn’t
because of this, of course.” He gestured to the left side of his face. “I was just getting
into high school and you know how kids can be.”
“I know,” Chloe said. “I know I don’t have anything like…what you have, but high
school wasn’t the best time for me either. See, I have this sister who’s always been the
most popular and the best at everything. It was hard being in her shadow all the time. I
guess I felt…invisible, most of the time.” She bit her lip after she said it, realizing that
she had never admitted that before, not even to herself.
“Yeah.” Mark sighed again. “I guess high school’s hard on everyone, huh? Anyway,
they tried skin grafts and everything.” He gestured to his face again. “But nothing
worked. Apparently I’m a ‘poor candidate for facial surgery’. So the surgeons told me
I’d just have to live with it. So I do,” he said simply.
“It’s not as bad as you think,” Chloe said. “I mean, it doesn’t bother me.”
“No?” He turned to face her fully, showing both sides of his face, both ruined and
handsome at the same time. Blue eyes searched hers, looking for the truth.
“No,” she said firmly. “Can…can I touch it? Can I touch you, I mean?”
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“Do you really want to?”
“Yes.” Hesitantly, Chloe reached for him, cupping the left side of his face in her
hand. The scar tissue was warm and rough against the palm of her hand, like melted
wax, but she didn’t find it repulsive. Mark closed his eyes while she touched him,
letting her fingers explore both sides of his face as she had explored his shaft earlier.
Chloe thought she had never been shown such trust before by anyone and it touched
her deeply.
“You’re very gentle,” he said at last, opening his eyes to look at her.
“So are you,” Chloe told him. “You know, I’ve never had anyone make love to me
the way you did,” she said, surprised that she had the nerve to say it. “It was…really
special, Mark. I just…I want you to know that.” She leaned forward and kissed the
scarred cheek gently, putting her heart into the gesture.
“I think you’re special too.” His deep voice was low and appreciative. “In fact,
you’re nothing like what I expected at all.”
“I thought the same thing about you when you showed up on the doorstep.” She
grinned at him and then shivered. “I’m cold, can we get under the covers again?”
“Don’t have to ask me twice.” He got back into bed and pulled her close again,
sliding the sheets and comforter up to cover them both.
“Mmm.” Chloe snuggled close, enjoying the heat of his big body. She rubbed her
face against his lightly furred chest, glad that the feather mask was no longer in her
way. She took a deep breath of his spicy scent, enjoying the feel of being held in a pair
of warm, masculine arms. How long had it been since she’d been held like this? Too
long, Chloe decided. She was glad she’d decided to take a risk and break the rules.
“You know,” she murmured, rubbing a hand lazily over his chest and abs. “This is
really nice.”
“It’s going to get more than nice in a minute if you don’t stop stroking me that
way.” Mark’s deep voice was only half joking and Chloe felt a little shiver of sexual
excitement along her spine.
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“More than nice is good.” Daringly, she ran her hand lower, stroking his thighs
teasingly, not quite touching his shaft.
“That’s the way you want it, huh?” Mark rolled on his side and began caressing her
back and shoulders with large, warm hands.
“Mmm, that’s exactly the way I want it.” She reached down to stroke his shaft,
surprised all over again at her own bravery, but Mark didn’t seem to mind. His cock
throbbed in her hand, giving her a new idea. She thought of the way he had tasted her,
slowly and relentlessly pushing her to the brink with his lips and tongue. Suddenly, she
wanted to do the same to him.
“Lie back for a minute.” She pushed against his broad chest, urging him to lie flat
on the bed.
“Why?” he asked, even as he complied.
“You’ll see.” Chloe rose to her knees and knelt over his sculpted torso. She shook
out her hair and let it trail in a silky mass down his abdomen to the hardened club of his
sex. Mark groaned aloud as she caressed his pulsing shaft with her hair, teasing him by
winding the long, silky tendrils around his cock and balls.
“God—that’s amazing. Where did you learn that?”
“I made it up,” she said, feeling sexy and naughty at the same time.
He reached for her but she took his hands and put them firmly on his chest.
“Uh-uh, I’m in charge this time.” She couldn’t believe she was saying it, but for the
first time she thought she might understand how Zoe could do something like this for a
living. It was kind of fun being in charge. Besides, she wanted to pleasure Mark the way
he had pleasured her.
She unwrapped her hair from him and leaned closer to grasp his cock at the base of
the shaft. Teasingly, she blew a cool stream of air over the broad, mushroom-shaped
head.
Marked groaned again. “You’re killing me, sweetheart!”
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“Just wait,” Chloe teased. “It only gets better.” Suiting actions to words, she placed
a wet, open-mouthed kiss on the head of his cock, tasting him for the first time. He was
delicious, hot and salty and spicy, and his scent was stronger here too. Chloe had never
realized how intoxicating the raw odor of masculinity could be—warm musk filled her
senses, earthy and clean with just a hint of sweat.
Wanting to taste more of him, she opened her lips wider, taking the entire head
inside and allowing her tongue to explore the sensitive slit at the top. Mark gasped at
the tiny, delicate movement and she felt him bury his hands, large and warm, in her
hair.
“That’s right, sweetheart,” he murmured. “Let me feel your lips around me. Let me
feel your tongue.”
This wasn’t something she had done very much but those hot words spoken in his
deep, sensuous voice gave her confidence to go on. Chloe dipped her head to take even
more of his shaft into her mouth, using her tongue on him as though he was the world’s
most delicious lollipop.
Mark moaned and she could feel the big muscles of his thighs tensing as she
increased her gentle suction. His hands in her hair urged her on without forcing her in
any way. Although there was no way she could take even half of him into her mouth,
Chloe found she enjoyed trying to take as much as she could. She grasped his shaft with
one hand and cupped the sensitive sac between his legs with the other, tickling gently
with her fingertips.
“Oh God, sweetheart…you’re so good at that!” His words gave her confidence,
making her feel sexy and competent at the same time. Chloe had never considered
herself “good” at anything that had to do with sex but now she felt like a goddess.
At last, just when she was wondering what his cum would taste like, Mark pulled
her gently but firmly away. “No,” he said, his deep voice hoarse when she looked at
him questioningly. “That’s not how I want to come, as wonderful as it is.” He smiled at
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her, a lazy, sensual smile that seemed to turn over her insides. “I want to come inside
you,” he told her softly.
Chloe smiled back at him. “I like the sound of that.” She was glad again that they
had discarded their masks. Without the black leather to get in the way, she could see
the warmth on his face and the heat in his eyes so much more clearly.
Mark rolled over to snag another condom and she started to lie on her back again,
but he stopped her. “Want you to be on top this time.” He stroked a stray wisp of hair
out of her eyes and kissed her mouth hungrily. “I want to watch your breasts bounce
while I fuck up into you,” he said.
Chloe had tried this position once or twice with one of her previous lovers, but it
had been a fumbling, not very enjoyable experience. She’d felt somehow like she was
riding an untrustworthy horse that might buck her off at any moment. Despite her
misgiving, Mark’s hot words convinced her to give it another try.
“All right,” she said softly, kneeling beside him. “Show me how you want me.”
“Like this.” He got her into position, straddling his narrow, muscular hips while he
held her by the waist. Looking down, Chloe could see the broad head of his cock just
brushing the soft, downy, blonde fuzz that covered her mound.
“Just lower yourself down and let me slide into you.” Mark’s voice was a little
strained and she could tell that he wanted her badly but he made no move to rush her.
Taking his shaft in her hand, Chloe rubbed it first against the sensitive bud of her clit,
enjoying the slick sensation and the sharp, tingling pleasure it created. But she was
ready for a deeper pleasure now.
Biting her lower lip in concentration, she positioned the head of his cock at the
entrance to her sex and began to press down. He slid into her more easily this time but
the feeling of being filled by him was still incredibly intense. They both gasped as he
reached the end of her channel, the head of his cock almost kissing the mouth of her
womb.
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“God!” Mark’s strong hands tightened on her waist, holding her in place for a
moment. His blue eyes blazed and Chloe could feel every muscle in his big body tense
beneath her in anticipation of their mutual pleasure. Unable to wait any longer, she
made a small motion with her hips, feeling his shaft slide just a fraction of an inch out of
her set sex and then back in.
Her movement seemed to unleash something in Mark. He grasped her hips more
firmly and began to move in her—long, deep, deliberate strokes that seemed designed
to drive her out of her mind with pure pleasure.
“Oh…oh!” Chloe heard herself gasping. She could barely think around the liquid
silver sensations that were running along her spine. It felt right to have him lodged so
deeply within her, to feel the relentless stroking of his large shaft into her wet cunt.
“Lean down,” Mark growled softly, motioning to her as he thrust. “Want to suck
your sweet, ripe nipples while I pump your pretty little pussy, sweetheart.”
Chloe leaned over him and he captured one of her nipples in his mouth, sucking
hard as he continued to grind into her heated, open sex. It seemed impossible that she
could come again after the way he had eaten her and made love to her earlier, and yet,
she felt her orgasm building like a tidal wave inside her.
“Mark!” she gasped. “Think I’m going to…so close…”
“Sit back then, sweetheart,” he said, understanding her at once. “Lean back and let
me get really deep inside you. Let me watch the expression on your face when you
come on my cock.”
Chloe sat up straighter, looking for balance, but Mark grabbed her hands,
intertwining their fingers to give her support. She watched their fingers squeezed
tightly together, hers small and slender interlaced with his, large and blunt. Trusting
him to hold her, she leaned back completely, allowing him to fill her as he hadn’t quite
been able to before.
“Oh God, yes!” The words broke from her lips as he stroked deeply into her,
holding her steady as he fucked hard and deep into her cunt. She began to feel that the
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approaching orgasm was going to be the most intense of all—that it might drown her in
its fury when it came—but she didn’t care.
“That’s right, sweetheart, work for it.” Mark’s voice was a low growl and his gaze
met hers and held. “You’ve earned it, let go. Come for me. Let me feel you come.”
Chloe felt the wave breaking over her at last. With a long, low moan she gave him
what he demanded as he stiffened beneath her, allowing her orgasm to trigger his own.
When it was over she collapsed on his chest, enjoying the rise and fall of his
breathing as he held her tight. Trying to catch her breath after the intense pleasure,
Chloe couldn’t get over the feeling that this was something special. With Mark, she had
been able to let herself go as she never had before. She barely knew him but she felt
instinctively that he was a man she could trust—maybe even love, if she gave herself
time.
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Chapter Three
“I’m hungry,” he said two hours later while they were cuddled in bed, enjoying the
second afterglow of the evening. After making love a second time they had cuddled
under the covers and talked and talked. It turned out they had a lot of mutual interests.
They both loved science fiction, though Chloe preferred to read it and Mark liked
his in cheesy, summer blockbuster movies. They both loved jazz and both hated Thai
food. Neither one of them could dance worth a damn, as Mark put it, but Chloe had
almost persuaded him to take a salsa class with her to learn. He was a night owl and she
was up with the sun, but they were both “cat” people. They both loved to play games,
though Chloe was better at cards and Mark preferred chess. He admitted to having a
large collection of chess technique books at home and was already talking about
teaching her to play.
Chloe couldn’t remember when she’d ever been this happy. When was the last time
she’d had a first date that turned out half as well? Only it wasn’t really a first date—
eventually she knew she’d have to tell Mark the truth about herself but she wasn’t
worried about it. For once she had taken a chance and made a connection on her own
without Zoe’s interference or help. She could just imagine the look on her twin’s face
when she told her that her “business transaction” had turned into a romantic interlude
after all.
“Hey, did you hear me?” Mark looked down at her, grinning charmingly. Already
Chloe found she barely noticed the scars on the left side of his face. They were just part
of him, like his slightly hairy chest and his amazing blue eyes.
“Mmm?” she said, smiling back at him.
He laughed. “I guess you didn’t. I said, I’m hungry. Let’s go see what your crazy
sister has to eat in this place.”
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His words were like a cold splash of ice water down the back of her neck. Chloe sat
up abruptly and pushed back from him. “What did you say?”
He looked at her strangely. “I said, let’s see what Zoe has to eat in this place, okay?”
“You…you know about Zoe? You know I’m not her…I mean, that she’s not me…I
mean—”
“Of course I know,” he cut her off. “She’s the one that set this whole thing up, how
could I not know?”
Chloe felt like someone had suddenly sucked all the oxygen out of the room. So this
was why things had gone so well. It was her sister setting her up on a date all over
again. Only this time she hadn’t taken any chances on Chloe screwing it up. She’d
probably told Mark everything—how shy Chloe was, how socially inept. She probably
told him to take the upper hand right from the start. And all those rules she told me…
Chloe shook her head. The rules had been because Zoe knew her twin sister couldn’t
help but screw up. The rules were meant to be broken.
“Hey, what’s wrong? Chloe? You okay?” Mark was looking at her, a line of worry
forming between his brows but all Chloe could see was that she’d been set up, again, by
her sister.
“Chloe?” he said again and it finally registered with her that this wasn’t the first
time he’d said her name. Why hadn’t she realized the first time she heard it that he was
in on the horrible joke Zoe had played on her? Because you were out of your mind with lust
at the time, she berated herself. Well, this was what she got for following her heart and
breaking the rules.
She untangled herself from his arms and stood to collect the leather skirt and
bustier, wondering how she was going to squeeze herself back into it. The boots she
would carry, she’d be damned if she put them on again when she could barely walk in
the damn things…
“Chloe, hey, Chloe! What’s wrong with you?” Marked grabbed her by the upper
arm and spun her around to face him.
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“What’s wrong?” Chloe felt like crying and screaming at the same time. “What’s
wrong is that is was all a setup—right from the start,” she snapped at him, pulling away
from the hand on her arm. “What did Zoe tell you anyway? That I was a spinster
schoolteacher that needed some attention? That I was so shy I couldn’t connect with any
guy on my own? Maybe she even paid you to service me—knowing Zoe, I wouldn’t put
it past her.” She finished getting into the leather gear, leaving the feathered mask on the
black carpet and headed for the door.
“It wasn’t like that at all! Sweetheart, if you’d just let me explain…” Mark wrapped
himself in a sheet and followed her to the door, trying to talk. But all Chloe heard was
betrayal of the worst kind.
“Chloe, please,” he was beginning again as she slammed the door in his face. Then
she got into her sister’s expensive car and put the pedal to the metal. She unrolled the
windows as she drove well over the speed limit, letting the cold evening air dry her
tears.
She hoped she never saw him again.
* * * * *
“Chloe? Chloe, I know you’re in there, you can’t hide forever, you know.”
Chloe hit the volume button on her remote, trying to drown out the sound of her
sister’s voice. It had been two weeks since what she had begun to think of as “the
dominatrix disaster” and she was pretty much determined never to speak to her twin
again.
“Chloe? At least answer my phone calls, even if you don’t want to talk face-to-
face!” Zoe was still pounding on the front door.
Her cell phone started ringing and Chloe shut it off without even looking at the
caller ID. Face-to-face, ha—that was a laugh. Every time she looked in the mirror she
saw her sister’s face—saw the way Zoe had made her up to look just like she did so that
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she could borrow her sister’s life for one night. One night of passion, one night of
excitement, one night of breaking all the rules. One night of heartbreak.
The worst part was that she knew, in a way, that her sister was right. There was no
way she could have acted the way she did without the clothes and the mask. But while
Zoe had only intended for her to have a fling, Chloe knew she was incapable of
separating love and sex the way her twin could. She had given more than her body that
night two weeks ago—she had given her heart and now it was breaking with the
knowledge that instead of a genuine connection, she and Mark had only shared a single
night of great sex, never to be repeated.
“Chloe, I’m not giving up on you! You’re acting like an idiot.” Zoe’s voice was so
loud she had to turn up the TV again. Chloe concentrated hard on the screen. It was one
of those reality shows where the contestants had to eat live bugs and jump from
helicopters into speedboats to win thousands of dollars.
Chloe had a lot of sympathy for the people on the screen—her stomach felt as
though she’d just eaten about a pound of writhing, crawling bugs and her heart felt like
it had been dropped from an eighty-story skyscraper to splat on the concrete below.
Trying to tune out her sister’s voice, she wondered why they didn’t make a show
where you had to dress up like a call girl and risk your heart instead of your life. In her
opinion it would have been a lot more interesting—not to mention more relevant to her
situation.
“Chloe! I just wanted you to have a good time for once. I knew Mark was a nice guy
and that he wouldn’t hurt you. You were never in any danger.”
Except in danger of losing her heart. Chloe gave up on the reality show and went
upstairs to bed. She put a pillow over her head and tried not to wish for a warm, broad
chest to rest her head on and strong arms to hold her tight.
No matter how real that night had seemed, it was only a fantasy and she knew she
should just forget it. Mark had probably moved on to something and someone else by
now. He had been doing a favor for Zoe, that was all. A favor that just happened to
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include making the girl he was supposed to be showing a good time fall in love with
him.
Stop being so stupid, Chloe told herself. It was just one night and you barely got to know
him at all. It was just that the sex was best you’d ever had. You’ll get over it.
But as she drifted off to sleep with Zoe still knocking on her front door, she couldn’t
help wondering if she ever would.
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Chapter Four
“Miss Chloe, there’s a funny man outside in the hall.” Michelle Weaver’s eyes were
as wide as saucers as she pointed to the classroom door and tugged at her teacher’s
sleeve.
“Michelle, I don’t want to hear any more stories.” Chloe heard the weariness in her
own voice and tried to soften her tone. She didn’t want to take out her personal pain on
the kids in her class. “Listen,” she said more gently to the little girl. “Just go have a seat
and finish your spelling test, all right?”
“But he said he wants to talk to you!”
“I’m sure he does.” Chloe patted her on the head. Michelle had been known to
make up all kinds of things to avoid tests, including talking giraffes and purple
unicorns, all of which desperately needed Chloe’s attention. Actually a “funny man”
was a pretty tame creation for a child which Chloe was sure was going to grow up to be
a writer of fantastic fiction some day.
“Go sit down and finish your test,” she told Michelle again. “And no more water or
bathroom breaks until you do. You’re distracting the rest of the class.”
Michelle sighed audibly, causing snickers from her seated classmates. “All right,
but he gots a funny face and about a bizillion roses and he said he wants to talk to you!”
“What?” Chloe felt her heart skip a beat, but she told herself firmly that she was just
being foolish. It was just Michelle’s overactive imagination trying to get her out of a test
again—wasn’t it? Her mind started working overtime. Should she go outside and check
just to be sure? But she didn’t like to leave her class alone, even for a moment. The
amount of trouble they could get into the minute her back was turned was staggering—
teaching was not for the faint of heart.
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Looking around she saw that Lisette Gonzales, one of her more mature students,
was already finished with her test and looking bored. With lips that felt numb and cold,
she called Lisette forward and gave her the coveted job of classroom monitor for five
minutes. The little girl sat proudly behind the teacher’s desk at the head of the class and
Chloe walked on legs that felt like rubber out of her classroom and into the hall.
“Hi.” Mark looked just as she remembered him—well, except for the black leather
mask, of course. He was indeed holding, as Michelle had reported, about a bizillion
long-stemmed red roses.
“Hi.” Chloe felt like someone had reached into her chest and squeezed her heart.
She didn’t know what to say. Emotions swamped her at the sight of him—anger, need,
desire, lust, pain… She decided to go with anger—it was definitely the least pathetic
one of the bunch.
“I don’t know why you’re here, but I really can’t talk to you right now.” She used
her coolest voice, hoping he would get the point. “I can’t leave my class alone.”
“Don’t worry about that, I’ve got it covered.” The voice came from right behind her.
Chloe jumped in fright and turned around just in time to see her twin, dressed in a
brown dress and sensible black heels identical to her own with her hair in a tight twist
at the back of her neck, entering Chloe’s first grade classroom.
“Zoe, no,” she hissed, horrified.
“Don’t worry.” Her twin’s green eyes sparkled. “I’m good at making people mind,
remember? Besides, I owe you a favor.” The door snicked closed and Zoe’s voice could
be heard saying, “Pencils down, class, and pass your papers forward.”
“Well, I guess that takes care of that.” Mark grinned at her and Chloe had a brief
moment of blinding panic when she realized she was alone in the hall with the man
she’d had extremely kinky sex with only two and a half weeks ago.
“Listen, I really can’t—”
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“Just give me five minutes,” he said, thrusting the roses at her. “Five minutes is all I
ask and then I’ll leave you alone forever—if you want me to.” His deep blue eyes
pleaded with her and Chloe found herself melting despite her inner resolve to be angry.
“All right,” she said, taking the huge bunch of roses which were wrapped in
crinkling green tissue paper. “But we can’t talk out here.” She looked around and
spotted an empty classroom down the hall. “Here,” she said, leading him inside it and
shutting the door. “But make it quick—I can’t leave my class alone with Zoe for too
long, no matter how good she is at ‘making people mind’.” Then she blushed, realizing
what she’d just said.
“You weren’t half bad at it yourself if I recall correctly.” Mark grinned and moved a
little closer. His dangerous, spicy scent filled her head just as it had that night in Zoe’s
“office” and Chloe felt herself blushing harder than ever. Still, she was determined not
to let him get the upper hand this time.
“Is that why you took control so quickly? Because I was doing such a great job? Or
was it just that Zoe told you what a shy little wallflower I am and the only way you’d
ever get anywhere with me was if you took matters into your own hands?” She was
trying to sound snarky but the words came out wounded instead.
“Chloe, please, let me explain. It wasn’t like that.” Mark’s deep voice was pleading
and he stepped forward and put one large hand over hers. Chloe felt her pulse
skyrocket at his touch but she refused to show it.
“You’ve got about three and a half minutes left and then I’m going back to my
classroom before the kids kill Zoe. And I’ll only be rescuing her because I want to kill
her myself,” she warned him. “So you’d better get talking. How did the two of you cook
this up? Or was it just Zoe’s idea?”
“It was her idea but I went along with it.” The look on his face was shame now,
shame and regret so profound that it threatened to melt her heart again but Chloe was
determined to be strong.
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“So, let me guess, you were one of her clients?” she said, putting the roses down on
a nearby desk and crossing her arms over her chest.
Mark gave a short, startled laugh. “Hell, no! She was one of mine.”
“Excuse me?” Chloe raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief.
“I told you I’m a computer geek, right?”
She nodded.
“Okay, so I have my own company—computer installation, troubleshooting,
repairs. It’s called ‘Geeks for Hire’.”
Chloe’s jaw dropped despite herself. “You’re that Mark Jacobs? But…I see your
billboards driving home all the time and I’m always humming that stupid jingle you
have for your TV ad…”
“Yeah, yeah.” Mark looked pained. “Think your computer has a leak? Time to call the
computer geek. Computer crashed or you lost a wire? Better call the geeks for hire,” he sang, in
a surprisingly melodious baritone. “Don’t get me started on that.” He grimaced. “That
was the ad people’s idea. But anyway, one day while all my guys were out, your sister
called because her computer had crashed—the one in her townhouse, you know?”
Chloe nodded stiffly, wondering exactly where he was going with this. She was
almost afraid to find out.
“So,” Mark shrugged. “I ended up taking the call myself, though I mostly run the
place behind the scenes. When I got there, I saw her ‘dungeon’ room and couldn’t help
asking what in the world she did for a living.” He laughed. “Man, was I surprised.
Never met a real-live dominatrix before. Your sister’s really something.”
Chloe could just imagine what had happened next. “So you went to her ‘office’ and
had a ‘session’ with her and then you decided you’d like to try the other sister too, is
that it?”
Mark looked shocked. “Of course that’s not it. Look, if that’s the problem, let me
assure you right now that Zoe and I have never been anything but friends.”
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Evangeline Anderson
“Is that right? And why should I believe you?” Chloe tapped her fingernails against
her arm impatiently. After all, what man wouldn’t want to have sex with her exotic, free-
spirited twin?
“Look,” Mark spread his hands in front of him. “I think your sister’s great, don’t get
me wrong. But she’s definitely not my type. Call me old-fashioned but my idea of a good
time isn’t being tied up and flogged or having someone walk all over me in spike-
heeled boots.”
“No, but I guess you don’t mind tying other people up, do you?” As soon as she
said it, Chloe wanted to take it back. But it was too late.
“Honestly, that was the first time I ever did anything like that.” Mark reached for
her hand again and this time Chloe let him hold it. “I swear to you,” he continued, in a
low, earnest voice. “I didn’t mean for it to go as far as it did. The idea was just to get to
know you a little. See…” he cleared his throat self-consciously. “It’s hard to meet
women sometimes, looking the way I do.”
Chloe wanted to say she thought he looked fine—very handsome in fact, but she bit
her tongue and let him continue.
“It’s hard until they find out who I am and what I do.” Mark sighed. “Then they’re
all over me because, well, my company’s been doing okay lately. But that seems to
attract all the wrong kind of women.”
Chloe knew his company was doing more than “okay”. Geeks for Hire had recently
been named one of the most successful new companies of the year in a prominent
financial magazine. Mark was probably worth millions—no wonder the wrong kind of
women were attracted to him.
“Anyway,” he continued after a moment. “I got to talking to your sister and told
her my predicament. I just wanted to meet a woman who wanted me for me and for
once I didn’t want to have to deal with this.” He motioned to the left side of his face.
“She told me all about you—how sweet you were and how totally different the two of
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Masks
you were and it sounded like a perfect match.” He shrugged unhappily. “So I agreed to
be set up on a blind date.”
Chloe looked down at the strong hand holding her own. “Well, you knew more
than I did. Zoe told me she needed me to do her a favor and meet with a ‘client’ she
didn’t want to lose. I had no idea about you being a friend of hers or being set up or any
of it.” She frowned.
Mark groaned and covered his face with his other hand. “I thought you knew—that
you were just playing along. Zoe told me to call you ‘Mistress Sensua’ and that you’d be
wearing a mask too.” He moved his hand and looked at her. “But I never meant for
things to go the way they did but when you started acting, well, the way you were
acting—the way you were touching me…”
He shrugged and Chloe felt herself blushing again, remembering the wanton way
all the wild things she had done. Things she never would have done under normal
circumstances.
“I was trying to act like a dominatrix,” she admitted, looking down at her shoes. “I
didn’t have any idea what I was doing, though—Zoe threw me in the deep end to sink
or swim. To tell you the truth, I was terrified.”
Mark laughed gently. “I could sorta tell that. ‘Assume the position!’” he imitated, in
a mock stern voice. He lifted Chloe’s chin so she had to look him in the eye. “That’s why
I took over. Because I thought you wanted what I wanted but weren’t quite sure how to
get to it.”
Chloe pulled away from him, blinking back tears. “I guess I wasn’t sure what I
wanted until…until we were actually…” She shook her head, unable to continue.
“Stupid, huh?” she said with a little sob. “I can do it but I can’t say it.”
“Look, it was my fault—all of it. I never should have assumed that you…” Mark
broke off, shaking his head.
“It doesn’t matter now anyway.” Chloe pulled her hand away and used it to swipe
the tears from her cheeks angrily. “It was just a one-time thing, wasn’t it? I guess Zoe
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Evangeline Anderson
thought she was doing us both a favor. No-strings-attached, anonymous sex with a hot
stranger—that’s everybody’s fantasy, right?”
“Not my fantasy.” Mark’s voice was quiet and sad.
Chloe looked up at him through her tears. She saw such a mixture of pain and
misery on his face that it stopped her from saying anything else.
“My fantasy was to meet a woman who wanted me for who I was, despite this,” he
gestured to his face. “And not because of my company’s net worth. I wanted a woman
who liked science fiction and jazz and hated Thai food and wanted me to take dance
lessons with her. One who was a cat person and a morning person and was willing to
let me teach her how to play chess.” He cupped Chloe’s wet cheek in his large, warm
hand and smiled at her sadly. “Sound familiar?”
“Mark…” She looked at him, uncertain of what to say. Could he really mean all of
this? Was he for real?
“Look, all I’m saying is, can’t we give this a chance? You’re the woman I want,
Chloe, and I’ve been looking for you a long time. I know we started backwards but—”
But she cut him off with a kiss. Grasping a thick handful of his black hair she pulled
him down and took his mouth the same way he’d taken hers on that first fateful night
when they met. Before she knew it Mark was kissing her back, holding her close in
those warm, muscular arms she’d been dreaming about for the last two and a half
weeks.
When they finally came up for air he grinned at her. “I guess that means you’re
willing to give it a try?”
All Chloe could say was, “Yes.” And then she kissed him again.
* * * * *
“So, I’m forgiven?” Zoe smirked at her over her steaming mug of hot cocoa. They
were both lounging in their pajamas on Chloe’s small but comfortable living room
couch, having what Zoe had dubbed as a “sister day”.
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After the near disastrous last time they’d gotten together, Chloe had decided it
would be a good thing if she and Zoe spent more time with each other and kept up on
each other’s lives. If her sister wanted to become, say, a parachute tester, Chloe wanted
to know it before she herself ended up ten thousand feet in the air about to be pushed
out of an airplane.
Now she frowned at her twin and took a sip of cocoa herself. “Yes, you’re
forgiven,” she said. “For now anyway. But only because things worked out in the end.”
Zoe sighed dreamily and batted her long lashes. “I just love happy endings. Now if
only I could find a nice, submissive man to settle down with myself.”
Chloe swatted at her. “You’re incorrigible!”
Zoe grinned back. “I know it. Aren’t you glad?”
Chloe looked at the familiar, mischievous twinkle in her twin’s green eyes and
couldn’t help laughing. “Yes, I guess I am. But, Zoe?”
“Hmm?” Her twin looked up from taking another sip from her mug.
“Do me a favor, okay?” Chloe leaned over and gave her sister a quick peck on the
cheek. “Don’t ask me for any more favors.”
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About the Author
Evangeline Anderson is a registered MRI tech who would rather be writing. She is
thirty-something and lives in Florida with a husband, three cats and a college-age sister
but no kids because enough is enough already. She had been writing erotic stories for
her own gratification for a number of years before it occurred to her to try to get paid
for it. To her delight, she found it was actually possible to get money for having a dirty
mind and she has been writing steadily ever since.
Evangeline welcomes mail from readers. You can write to her c/o Ellora’s Cave
Publishing at 1056 Home Avenue, Akron, OH 44310-3502.
Also by Evangeline Anderson
Secret Thirst
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publisher Ellora’s Cave. Whether you prefer e-books or paperbacks, be sure to visit EC
on the web at www.ellorascave.com for an erotic reading experience that will leave you
breathless.
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