Page 166 of Masters of Control

Shallow Submission

For Blake, the original Persian Excursion, whose self-given nickname clearly stuck in my head.

Also for every woman who loves doing her hair and makeup, who enjoys dressing up, who is naturally graceful, who has big boobs, and who usually only gets to see herself as the ‘bad woman’ in romance.

This time, you get to be the heroine.

Prologue

3 Years Earlier

Morgan

What’s a safe word?

Who knew that one little question would blow up her entire life? Though perhaps she should have expected it. It wasn’t the first time her whole life had changed without warning. This time was more physically painful than emotional, which was new.

“Ow, ow, ow,” she whimpered as the gurney she was on was jostled.

“Sorry, hun,” the EMT said sympathetically.

“It’s okay, Morgan, they’ve got you,” Naomi, the very nice submissive who had inadvertently exploded Morgan’s life, said. She climbed into the ambulance, leaving her husband, Drew, hovering worriedly outside. Naomi looked back at him as she took Morgan’s hand. “Meet me at the hospital.”

“You don’t have to come with me— Ow.” Morgan winced. The stabbing pain in her right side wasn’t going away, even though she’d stopped moving. Her stomach had been hurting all day, though not consistently until about an hour into the play party when it had become difficult to stand, much less walk.

Master Richard had been very annoyed at her.

“Of course, I’m coming with you. Unless you’d rather have someone else?” Naomi’s dark eyes were full of sympathy and worry, and she didn’t seem mad at the idea. But that wasn’t what Morgan had meant.

“I don’t have anyone except Master Richard.” She sucked in a breath, trying to breathe through the pain and not make too much noise.

Naomi’s lips pressed in a thin line, and the EMT who was attaching something to Morgan’s arm paused.

“Just call him Richard for now, honey, okay?” Naomi said. “And I’m coming with you. You aren’t going to the hospital alone. Not on my watch.” She made a little huffing noise.

Morgan didn’t understand, but she nodded, partly because Naomi seemed very determined but mostly because it was becoming painful to talk. She breathed short, shallow breaths, trying to keep her chest and stomach from expanding, and that helped a little.

The doors to the ambulance slammed shut, then the vehicle started to move a moment later. Morgan whimpered. Even that little bit of movement hurt. She was starting to worry something was seriously wrong. Master Richard had accused her of being overly dramatic, but she really wasn’t trying to be.

It just hurt so bad.

“What happened?” one of the EMTs asked as they worked on her.

Morgan couldn’t find the breath to answer, but it didn’t matter because Naomi started answering for her. She couldn’t help but be both amazed and grateful in the midst of her confusion. She knew Naomi was submissive, but she wasn’t acting like it right now.

“She’s been holding her right side for the past hour and seemed to be in pain. Her… boyfriend,”—the way Naomi said the word made it sound like something bad, her tone sour—“was ignoring it, but I could tell it was getting worse. When she collapsed, we called for an ambulance. I think it might be her appendix.”

Naomi didn’t mention that she’d been the one to catch Morgan or that Master Richard had yelled at Morgan for falling and at Naomi for daring to touch his sub. She also didn’t mention that her husband, Drew, had put himself physically between Master Richard and the two women because he’d been so enraged.

And Morgan hadn’t been able to do anything because it had hurt too much.

Master Richard was going to punish her severely, but she really hadn’t been able to get up. And she hadn’t been able to stop them from escorting him out the door. Or from calling the ambulance.

Once he was gone, the only one giving her any directions was Naomi. Even though she was a submissive, Morgan had listened because no one else was telling her what she should be doing.

Morgan moaned as the road turned a little bumpy. She wanted to push down on the spot that hurt, but even the lightest touch made her hurt worse.

“It’s okay, sweetie. I’ve got you.” Naomi’s grip on Morgan’s hand tightened.