Page 92 of Masters of Secrets

“Hi, Master Connor. Do you want to order a drink now or wait till your date gets here?” She smiled down at him, but just the use of the honorific made him want to flinch. What would everyone think if they told him he wasn’t a Master? Wasn’t a Dom? Would they feel like he’d lied to them?

Would she be angry that she’d scened with him, and he’d deceived her?

“Not a date,” he corrected automatically. Just in case. Though it really wasn’t a date, even if she showed up. She might come just to turn him down. Which would be fine. Well, not fine exactly, but definitely within her rights. “Um… I’ll have a beer, please. Whatever is on tap.”

At his size, one beer barely affected him. Not that he was expecting Mistress Julie to jump into scening with him. Shit. Did he want her to jump into scening with him?

“Okay, great.” Annette shot him a curious look before walking away. Some of his internal panic must have shown on his face.

Bracing his elbows on the table, Connor pressed the heels of his hands against his eye sockets, taking several deep breaths as he tried to calm himself down. This was feeling more and more like a mistake every second. Why hadn’t he thought through all the possible repercussions before walking in here?

Because I was so focused on Mistress Julie, I forgot to think about everyone else.

Maybe not forgot so much as pushed it out of his mind. He’d wanted to roll the dice and see what happened if he revealed himself. See if the fantasies he had in his head matched up with reality.

He should go.

Dropping his hands, he lifted his head… and found himself looking at the woman herself, standing on the other side of the table. She looked stunning in a blue shirt and black skirt, her long hair pulled back up away from her face in a bun, with two sticks that had little dangly decorations hanging from them stuck through it. With him sitting down in the booth, they were about the same height. Her gaze pierced him as she tilted her head, as though she was wondering what he was doing there… or maybe just wondering why he appeared to be having a meltdown.

He felt a moment of panic.

She did realize he was there to meet her, right?

Or would it be better if she didn’t, and he could just pretend all of this never happened?

“Hello, Connor,” she said in that low, cool voice that made shivers dance over his skin. The voice she used when she was scening with a sub, which always made him wish he was the sub. The voice that had made him really start questioning everything he thought he wanted when it came to kink.

“Mistress Julie.” Unfortunately, he didn’t sound nearly as calm or cool as she did. He kind of sounded as if he was being strangled.

She reached out, resting one finger atop the cellophane on the roses.

“Are these for me?” Her dark eyes bored into him. It was the moment of truth. He could lie and say no and get up and run. He fully believed she would never tell anyone, never humiliate him that way. There was compassion in her expression, as though she understood how hard this was for him. As if she recognized how much he was struggling.

He cleared his throat, placing his hands flat on the table, the hard wood cool beneath his palms.

“Yes.”

Julie

Connor looked ready to bolt.

With his hands flat on the table, his shoulders hunched as if he was trying to make himself smaller than he was, and the panic in his expression when he realized she was standing there, she wondered if she should have come inside. He had been about to run; she was sure of it.

Part of her wondered if it would be better if he did.

While she believed he was very possibly submissive, or perhaps switchy, if he wasn’t ready to accept that side of himself, then he wasn’t ready. Sometimes, a crush was just a crush. Sometimes, reality didn’t match up with expectations.

What she could do was talk to him and help him figure out what he wanted.

“Thank you, they’re beautiful,” she said simply, sliding into the booth. She smiled at him, her voice flipping from her Domme voice to the one she usually used in the office with her clients. “We can just talk.”

“Um. Right.” He cleared his throat again, and Julie couldn’t help but smile.

They hadn’t spent much time together after the introduction class he’d taken, though she’d seen him watching nearly all of her demonstrations since then. Something she hadn’t realized was significant until right now. After all, he was hardly the only Dom to attend as many demonstrations as possible, adding to their knowledge base.

However, as far as she knew, Connor rarely used what he learned. He was a softer Dom, and the submissives loved that about him. Especially the ones who needed some coddling and caretaking, which was what most of them went to him for. He was their gentle giant, their big teddy bear, and they teased and bratted, knowing he’d just laugh and enjoy their antics.

Thankfully, for a segue, Annette appeared at their table with a tall glass of beer for Connor. Her eyes widened when she realized it was Julie sitting there, with the flowers in front of her, then comprehension settled onto her expression.