Page 137 of Masters of Pleasure
Maybe she should have asked, but she couldn’t get rid of the niggling worry he was calling her in to break up with her, end their classes, or something like that.Iris had pointed out it would have made more sense to tell her to go to Olivia’s office in that case, and it would have, but Avery was still worried.
She didn’t want to lose Nick.
She didn’t want to lose her job.
While she still wished Chad had kept his mouth shut and Nick had given her a heads up, when it came down to it, it didn’t change what she wanted.Even if everyone in the restaurant knew.Even if they all judged her.
Okay, in that last scenario, she might end up wanting to eventually leave her job, but she wanted to stick it out for now.She loved working in the restaurant and with Nick.Heck, even though this might have been the perfect nudge to go out on her own and start her own catering business, that hadn’t been a consideration.
She wanted to keep working at Marquis… with Nick.Hoping she hadn’t lost her chance to do so, she lifted her chin, walked over to the door, and opened it.
The room was dark except for the lights in the middle of the stage, which were on.In the center of the stage was a spanking bench, Nick standing next to it, arms crossed, wearing leather pants and nothing else, looking every inch the hot Dom.
Dammit.
Avery wished she’d worn something other than her work clothes.
“Avery.”He nodded his head, and Avery’s palms went clammy.Rae might have been right about her needing to worry about her ass.
“Nick.”
Instead of answering, he lifted one eyebrow.Shit.That wasn’t what she was supposed to call him in the club, even if she was dressed for work right now.
“Sir.”She blushed as heat filled her cheeks.
“Better.”
Better?What else was she supposed to call him?Master Nick?Master Chef?
Probably not that last one.She didn’t think he’d appreciate the pun, and she didn’t want him to think she wasn’t taking this seriously.She was, but she was really nervous, and her brain went to humor to alleviate the tension.The room setup was not helping.
Wiping her hands on her pants, she stared back at him, waiting for him to tell her what to do.
Nick
The theatricality of this moment wasn’t something Nick had been sure of, but he had to admit it was effective.Avery certainly seemed to think so.Her hazel eyes were huge in her pale face, and she was gripping the sides of her chef pants, watching him warily, like prey eyeing a predator they weren’t sure was hungry.
“Come up here, naughty girl.”The effect of those last two words on Avery was immediate and visible.Her already wide eyes got even bigger, which he hadn’t thought was possible, and she shivered.
A moment later, biting her lip, she took a step forward.The wariness in her expression had increased tenfold.Part of him felt guilty, but mostly it was guilt about how much he enjoyed seeing the trepidation and fear in her expression.
Yesterday, along with her suggestions, Olivia had pushed the point that Avery would need several things—punishment to help her clear away her guilt and reassurance she was forgiven.She said it was up to him whether that reassurance became sexual and hammered home.The only reason he might not want to was some Doms saw pleasure after punishment as rewarding bad behavior.
What he did was up to him.
He wasn’t sure how he felt about spanking her without it being sexual but also saw Olivia’s point.
Right now, he wasn’t sure what he was going to do after he was done spanking her.He’d wing that part, see what felt right.
Avery’s little pink tongue flicked over her bottom lip as she stepped onto the stage.She was still pale and wide-eyed, but now that she was closer, he could also see the excitement in her expression.The anticipation.
When she was only a few feet away from him, he gave her another order, not moving from his wide-legged stance with his arms across his chest.
“Strip.”
Coming to an abrupt halt, she stared at him for a long moment, then nodded.
“Yes, Sir.”
