Page 89 of Masters of Secrets

Secret Submission

The Letter

Dear Mistress Julie,

I want to apologize for any fright or distress I might have inadvertently caused you. I don’t think I have, but just in case. I didn’t mean to worry you when I sent the gift to your house.

If you’d like to know who I am, I am willing to meet.

I haven’t revealed myself before because I’ve been unsure of what you would think. Of what everyone would think. But I’m tired of hiding.

I’ll be at Marquis next Friday in a booth by myself. I’ll have a bouquet of roses for you. If you would be open to joining me, I would love to try serving you for the evening. If not, I understand. I hope, at the very least, that I’ve given you some pleasure over the past year.

Yours, ever in admiration.

Chapter One

Julie

It was a normal Friday night. At least, that’s what she had to convince everyone around her. Her friend and co-teacher, Law. Freddy and Morgan, who were working at the front desk of Marquis this evening. Master Patrick and Lexie, who were performing a Shibari scene for the evening’s entertainment.

One of the things she liked about Marquis was how theatrical everything was. She enjoyed watching a good, honest scene at Stronghold, but there was something beautiful about the way Marquis became a performance. It added an extra dollop of something to the voyeuristic experience.

And she did love a good Shibari scene. Master Patrick, who owned both the Stronghold and Marquis kink clubs, had been working on his technique over the past year, and he was enjoying making Lexie fly with more and more intricate knots and arrangements. Julie enjoyed watching it happen.

She’d always been more of a voyeur than an exhibitionist.

“Are you staying to watch the show?” Law asked as he got to his feet in the office they shared. He ran his hand over his bald head, the way he sometimes did when he was thinking. They co-taught the introduction classes for new members of the clubs, and they’d been doing it together for a while, so she knew him pretty well. She enjoyed teaching the classes with him, but when it came to the topic of the secret admirer who had been sending her gifts for months, he became a bit of an annoyance. She was glad he was headed home to his submissive and girlfriend, Iris, rather than staying for the evening.

“Yeah.” She smiled at him as normally as she could. What does my normal smile look like? “You know I enjoy the Shibari shows.”

He nodded, smiling back at her, tugging his dress shirt down to adjust it over his chest. Was he smiling normally? Had he noticed something was up?

The last thing she wanted was Law up her ass all evening when she was finally going to find out who her secret admirer was. For the longest time, she hadn’t cared. It had almost been nice not to know, but now that they’d offered to reveal themselves, she had to know.

Her mother had always cautioned her about her curiosity when she was younger.

Curiosity killed the cat.

Julie still remembered the feeling when she was twelve years old and discovered the rest of the saying… but satisfaction brought it back. She’d taken great satisfaction in informing her mother, who had not enjoyed being corrected but had mostly taken it with good grace.

Her admirer had been sending her gifts for just over a year now. Always her favorite things. Always—until recently—delivered to Marquis when she was working. Which was what had set Law off in the first place. Some of those deliveries had happened when it wouldn’t have been common knowledge she was present at Marquis. They never arrived during classes.

He’d been convinced she’d had a stalker, but as the months had gone on with no contact other than gifts and notes, always delivered by a third party, Julie had relaxed. Right up until she’d gotten a gift at her house because she hadn’t been at Marquis on the ‘one-year anniversary’ of when the gifts had first started. At least, that’s what the note had said, explaining why it had been sent to her house.

Law had nearly hit the roof.

She’d been more disturbed than she’d let on to him, mostly because she hated admitting he might be right. But, again, nothing had happened after that. No one had appeared at her house or started calling her or doing anything that might be construed as escalation.

One might argue that coming to Marquis to reveal themselves was an escalation, but they were leaving it entirely up to her whether or not to join them. Julie couldn’t make the decision until she knew who they were, and having Law breathing down her neck was going to be counterproductive to all that. Plus, she didn’t want him barging in to scare them away or scold them. Then she’d have to kick his ass, which could damage their coworker relationship.

“Have a good night,” he said, giving her a little wave before walking out the door.

Julie breathed a sigh of relief. He definitely didn’t know something was up, or he’d never have left like that.

Glancing at the clock, she felt a flutter in her stomach. People would be starting to arrive, those who were eating before the show started. Would her secret admirer be one of them? Or would they just show up for the show?

Dinner would make sense if they wanted her to join them. On the other hand, maybe they wouldn’t want to sit there eating alone if she didn’t. Maybe they’d show up at the last minute, just in case she didn’t come.