He said nothing more as he pulled her back to his chest and stroked her hair, letting her cry into him. When she was drained, he moved out of her bed and knelt before her as she sat at the edge of her mattress. “This has to be our last meeting,” he said. “I’ll take my payment now, and I can refer you somewhere else, but I can’t let my clients get attached.”
As his hands folded into hers, she wanted to beg him, to apologize, to ask what she’d done wrong, to understand the way men and women worked, to feel like she was more than a lost girl who seemed to scare men away, but her sister’s lessons had worked their magic: a good woman didn’t pry. A good woman stood by while her man did what he thought was best for them both.
• • •
After Tristan came, pulled out, and tossed the condom to the ground, they sat on the platform, where he tugged her into his lap and stroked her hair. It reminded her of the aftercare she’d received from the Dom, those gentle moments that formed her fantasies more often in older age than the whips and ties and paddles had. A slow peace settled over her.
“I knocked the breath out of you, huh?” Tristan said.
Sabrina laughed. “Guess you did.”
They sat with the steady sound of Tristan’s soft wheezing for a time before Tristan spoke once more, his words laced with concern. “Seriously, though, are you okay?”
Sabrina startled back awake. “I’m fine,” she said. It was the truth. “Are you okay? Are you allergic to dust or something?”
“You’re the one wheezing over here.” Tristan laughed.
“That’s not me.” Sabrina said, a cold shiver running through her.
“Then who the hell is it?”
They stopped talking, listening for any hint of where the sound was coming from. Sabrina heard a little moan, and then more heavy breaths.
“Oh, my God,” she said. “It’s someone having sex.”
“Who’s having sex?” Tristan snorted. “Besides us.”
Sabrina remembered Leo and his weird advice. “Apparently the whole crew.” She giggled. “They’re in a throuple or something.”
“But there’s four of them,” Tristan said.
“Yeah, they’re leaving Tatum out.”
“Poor dude,” Tristan said. “I’ll be extra nice to him from now on.”
As Tristan returned to stroking her hair, they listened to the feverish sounds of lovemaking, trying not to laugh.
Chapter Eighteen
Linda
When Linda returned to her room, she found Charity waiting in the hallway, leaning against the wall. Linda hid her bloody hands behind her back as she approached.
“Where did you go?” Charity asked, her eyebrows drawing together.
“Cleared my head,” Linda said, making her voice even and sure. “Sorry to run off.”
“Do what you have to do.”
The floor creaked, and they turned to see Sabrina padding down the hall toward them, her mascara smeared underneath her eyes.
“You okay, hon?” Charity asked Sabrina as she approached.
“Huh?” Sabrina said.
“Your mascara ran,” Linda said.
Sabrina wiped her finger under her eye, then inspected the black smudge on the skin. “I was crying,” she said. “I’m better now.”
The ladies did as ladies do and escorted Sabrina to the bathroom to tidy her face and dress for the evening’s elimination ceremony. The bathroom assigned to them was on the same hall as their bedrooms, and Linda and Sabrina had already littered the countertops with the contents of their makeup bags.
“What is all this stuff?” Charity picked up a bottle of finishing spray and shook it up.
Linda grabbed a sheet of makeup remover and wiped under Sabrina’s eyes until all the mascara was gone. “It’s poison,” she said.
“I bet, you calculating Jezebel.”
Sabrina chewed at a nail as she sunk onto the closed toilet seat. “This place makes me feel like I’m losing my mind.”
“All women lose their minds when it comes to men,” Charity said. “That’s why I date women.”
Sabrina frowned even as Linda’s stomach jumped, her face flushing as her pits broke out in sudden sweat. It was an almost comical reaction. Linda would have laughed at herself if her best friend weren’t hurting. “Why are you here if you date women?”
“I date men, too?” Charity said.
“Huh.” Linda leaned into the mirror and swiped her eyeshadow brush across her eyelid.
“Hey, show me how to do that.” Charity scooted next to Linda.
