Red Handed(12)

Danielle sat beside her. “Um, right.” Did all women speak so freely about sex? “Do you, um, get paid for being a slave?”

“Not officially, but the members’ fees pay for my weekly stipend plus my living expenses, which remain low since my room and board are both covered. It’s structured similarly to your trainee agreement.” Gracie slid her a quizzical glance. “You did read your agreement, didn’t you?”

“Of course. So what do you do for him?” Hating all the lies that were piling up, she nibbled on her thumbnail.

“Master tries to give me more of the social responsibilities in Benediction, like greeting the guests and taking their coats. Has he given you your first service requirement yet?”

Danielle ripped her thumb from her mouth and laced her fingers together to keep from biting on them. “I don’t think so. What is that?”

“The trainees are responsible for cooking, cleaning, running errands, and anything else Master needs to run the house and club. It’s kind of like working in the mailroom of a large corporation. You have to start at the bottom and work your way up.”

“So I won’t be expected to have sex?” Her stomach dropped, and she wasn’t sure if the cause was relief or disappointment.

Gracie shrugged. “It depends. I was ready on my first day because I’d been coming to Benediction for seven years. A membership was the first thing I bought with the money I got from my trust fund on my eighteenth birthday.”

“Eighteen?” On Danielle’s eighteenth birthday, she’d had no idea what to register for in her first semester of college, much less know her sexual preferences. “How did you know you were . . . ?”

“Submissive? Kinky? It’s something I was born with. I’ve known since puberty. While other girls fantasized about kisses and getting felt up by thirteen-year-old boys, I was dreaming about adult men tying me up and spanking me. I never felt like I fit in with the rest of the vanilla world. It took a lot of energy to fake it. What about you?”

Although Danielle was here under deceptive circumstances, she’d felt as though she’d been a fraud her entire life. Being overweight and shy had prevented her from making a lot of friends, and other than Roman, when an occasional someone had broken through her shell and befriended her, she’d kept walls up, never allowing herself to grow close to anyone. “I’ve never fit in either.”

“That’s one of the things I love about kink,” Gracie said, wrapping an arm around Danielle. “The community. We’re all freaks in our own ways, and we don’t pass judgment on one another. Okay, maybe a few of us do, like Cassandra, who unfortunately you’ll meet soon.” She patted Danielle’s thigh as if reassuring her. “But you can finally be who you are inside without fear of recrimination.”

Danielle exhaled. “What if I don’t know who I am?”

“Don’t worry your pretty head about it. Master will help you find out. Just enjoy the ride, and everything will fall into place. I take it you don’t have a lot of experience in BDSM.” At the knock of the door, Gracie jumped up from the bed and skipped across the floor. “That should be your new wardrobe!”

She flung open the door. Holding several hangers of clothing, a tall redhead strutted into the room like a model on a runway.

“I have the clothes Master ordered.” The redhead stopped in front of the bed and glared at Danielle in disdain, pursing her lips as though she’d eaten a lemon. “Hm. I don’t think Master gave me the correct size. I doubt any of these will fit you.”

Although Gracie had warned her about Cassandra, the words still stung, and the bit of confidence she’d acquired from her short time here dissipated.

Gracie rolled her eyes. “Danielle, this is Cassandra. She’s a bitch. Don’t pay her any attention.” She plucked the clothes from Cassandra’s hands and gave Danielle a wink before hanging them up in the closet. “I think you’ll look hot in these.”

“Already hitting on the new girl?” Cassandra placed a perfectly manicured hand on her bony hip and smirked like a stereotypical high school bully.

Gracie twirled on her heels and stomped to the door, pointing her finger to the hallway. “Get out, Cassandra. You’re just jealous because Master let me go to the freeway last night while Sir Logan used you in his Shibari demonstration and didn’t get you off.”

“Even without an orgasm, I’d rather have Logan Bradford’s undivided attention than an orgy with a room full of strangers.”

“Sir Logan isn’t going to fall for your innocent act, Cassandra. Now, why don’t you crawl back into the hole where you came from?”