MakeMeShiver by Aline Hunter Page A

clear beforehand. I don’t do casual sex. It’s not my thing. Last night was wonderful but I’m not comfortable with your lifestyle, and after meeting your,” the pain she experienced as she struggled for the proper terminology was etched all over her face, “ slave this morning, I know I don’t want to be.”
    “That’s part of the problem. You don’t know anything about my lifestyle,” he said solemnly, inching closer. “I don’t have—or want—a slave.”
    She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t insult my intelligence. I met her. I talked to her. She offered to cook me breakfast for Christ’s sake.” He watched her grimace at the memory, as if it were the most reprehensible thing imaginable, and it was difficult to bite back a grin. She was not only adorable when she was angry, she was positively irresistible.
    “I would never insult your intelligence, just as I would never insult you by bringing another woman into my home.” He placed his hand over one of her socked feet. “It’s true that I was involved with Aly, but the relationship ended long before I met you at Haddie’s. It’s been over for months.”
    The confusion and doubt that flickered across her face were immediately replaced with a steely anger. “She had a key to your house.”
    “No, she used the spare I keep under the flowerpot on the porch.”
    Lacey pulled her foot away. “She called you Master.”
    He sighed and gave her space. “Aly refers to all Doms as Master.”
    “She didn’t just refer to any Dom. She referred to you as Master.” She started to rise, straightening her legs. “Why are we even discussing this? It was fun, we enjoyed ourselves, and now it’s over. End of discussion.”
    “All right, that’s enough.” He grasped her feet and held them firmly, ensuring she couldn’t kick her way free. “You have every right to be upset, I’m not disputing that. But you’ve taken everything that’s happened this morning entirely out of context. You are going to listen to me. It’s not a request.”
    She didn’t struggle, glaring at him. “There isn’t anything you can say that’s going to change my mind.”
    “Please.” He maintained eye contact, hoping she could hear the sincerity in his voice even if she didn’t want to place any faith in it. “Hear me out.”
    She studied him quietly before she rolled her eyes, exhaled as if annoyed and nodded.
    “In order for you to understand what happened this morning, you have to understand the situation.” He drew a deep breath, hoping like hell Lacey was the compassionate woman he believed her to be, and started from the beginning. “Aly met the man who introduced her to BDSM when she was seventeen. He was sixteen years older than her and took advantage of her inexperience and youth. By the time she graduated from high school she was living with him. He demanded a full-time, 24/7 D/s relationship. She lived with him for seven years as a full-time slave until a couple of years ago when he packed a bag, removed Aly’s collar and told her he was moving. He’d already put the house on the market and purchased a condo in San Francisco. He left her with enough money to get back on her feet and start over.”
    The agitation in Lacey’s face became replaced by sympathy. “That’s horrible.”
    He nodded in agreement. “As someone who had been told what to do for over a quarter of her life, Aly had a hard time returning to a world in which she had to make all of her own decisions. Her family had cut her off when she left home, which meant she only had a few connections through the club. By the time I met her she’d managed to conceal just how much she needed the full-time lifestyle. We explored a relationship for a few weeks but when it became apparent that she was going to require that level of commitment I ended it and told her she needed to find someone who could give her what she needed.”
    “But she was at your house today, and she let herself in.”
    “It was