Ashes - Book 2 (New Adult Romantic Suspense) by Leslie Johnson Page B

I’m seeing.
    Is this what Gage wants?
    To cause pain and have someone follow his orders?
    Then why has he been with me? Because I hate pain and would punch the first man who told me what to do in the nose.
    Against my will, I flashback to learning about my parents’ playroom for the very first time. I’d always been curious as to what was behind that door, but it had always been locked and the key carefully hidden.
    Still. I’d needed to know. I’d craved to know. It had nearly become an obsession.
    So I’d done what any sixteen year old would do. I’d gone on YouTube and learned how to pick a lock.
    Stupid.
    Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
    My parents were away for the night when I decided I was brave enough to try my new lock picking skills. It had taken several tries, but I’d done it. And moments later, I really wished I hadn’t.
    There were whips hanging from the wall, handcuffs and chains. Leather cuffs and straps. Things I couldn’t name. There was a bed and a bench, and a cross on the wall. Things hanging from the ceiling.
    It looked like a torture room. I was sure it was a torture room. I slammed the door, carefully locking it again and ran to my room and cried.
    Then, I did what any sixteen year old girl would do. I went on the internet and did some research. I learned about playrooms, BDSM, dominants and submissives. I learned it was a lifestyle that many people enjoyed.
    But my parents?
    MY mom and dad?
    The questions had haunted me.
    How long had this been going on?
    And the big one … why ?
    How was whipping someone fun? Or making them bend to your will? I didn’t understand it then and I don’t understand it now. Even when Steph tells me about her and Ken’s adventures, I smile and nod, but truthfully, I don’t get it.
    I remember facing that door a second time, after I’d been armed with internet knowledge. I picked the lock, opened the door and hoped the room wouldn’t look so ghastly.
    But it did.
    It was just as bad as the first time.
    And my parents did stuff together in that room. And later, I learned they did stuff in there with others.
    I was sickened by my parents and found it hard to be in their presence for a really long time. I threw myself into basically doing anything they didn’t want me to do. I started to drink, but managed to stay away from drugs. Barely. Instead, I cheered and spent hours at the gym doing gymnastics and dance. I’d stay at my friends’ for days at a time, but never confided what I’d learned to any of them.
    It was during that time that I swore no man would ever control me. Then … I was raped. And my need for control in my life had grown even stronger.
    It was all consuming. Like a fever raging through my body.
    The blonde woman’s moans draw me back to the present and I watch her sink to her knees. A moment later, Gage’s pants are down around his ankles and I’m staring at the tight ass I know so well.
    Oh God, no. I don’t want to see this. I don’t want to see the man I was so close to falling for have sex with another woman. I can tell myself that I’m progressive and open minded all day long. I can pretend I don’t care what he does or who he does it with.
    But I do care and the knife I feel in my gut is evidence of just how deep that caring goes.
    How did I allow this to happen?
    How did I fall in love with Gage?
    And how was I going to fall right back out of it?

Chapter 17 — Gage
    Her warm mouth feels so good as she takes me into her throat. Her sucking and licking noises blend perfectly with the moans coming from her chest.
    Amber’s so hot. Her mouth. Her hand. The confidence that makes her bold. And her experience … um, plenty of experience. She knows exactly how to use her hand on the part of me she can’t take into her mouth.
    Her hair brushes my thighs as my cock disappears and reappears before me. Her tongue works around my shaft, giving different sensations. Her free hand cups my balls and I’d applaud her if it was at all