Free Exclusive by Eden Bradley

his system. He could not allow himself to lose control that way. Not with her. Not with anyone. They'd talked a lot about what would be expected of her at Sanctuary.
That she had to be naked, which didn't seem to worry her at all. No reason why it should. She had an amazing body, lithe and lean, like a dancer. Gorgeous. He'd told her that she'd be on her knees much of the time, had described to her the submissive position she must assume when kneeling at his feet. Told her to expect that others might touch her, examine her. She would be a slave at Sanctuary; he'd been clear with her about that. And her response had been a long pause in which all he heard through the phone was her quick, panting breath. That told him all he needed to know about whether or not she was ready to go there, to Sanctuary, to this most extreme BDSM environment.
But was he?
He had never taken another woman there. Had never wanted to. His membership at Sanctuary had so far been as an observer, other than the few times he'd been invited by a fellow Dom or Domme to join a scene, to play their submissives.
Taking a sub to Sanctuary was not like going to any other BDSM club. It was more than the scene, more than the heavily charged atmosphere. If Devin accepted Sanctuary, if the members there accepted her, then their next visit would mean a collaring, that ritual which, in this lifestyle, signified as much of a commitment as marriage did in normal society.
He hardly knew her.
He felt as though he'd known her forever the first moment he'd seen her. This was fucking insane.
But he was taking her there. And the idea made his whole body surge with lust and an intense sense of needing to protect her, to own her, that he'd never felt before. Oh yes, he was a control freak, no doubt about it, but owning her? What the hell was that about? He was a chip off the old block, he kept reminding himself. Just like his father, he never committed to a woman. He was his own man. He didn't need anyone. Need equaled weakness. He'd witnessed what that kind of need could do to a person, seen it when his mother had died, in the way his father had totally fallen apart for a few years. He'd also seen how his dad had regained control of his life, had hung on to that control by never loving another woman. And Shaye had learned his lesson well. His need for Devin was frankly scaring the shit out of him. If he was smart he'd never talk to her again, never see her. But he couldn't do that. And tonight, he would take her to Sanctuary. He kept telling himself it was nothing more than indulging his desire to play there, in that amazing place. That Devin was merely a girl who could handle it. But that was pure bullshit, and he knew it. Taking her there was a test. But whether he was testing Devin or himself, he wasn't really sure.
    SIX
    Shaye had told her how to prepare herself, and she'd
    found a deep sense of ritual in bathing, smoothing lotion onto her skin, dabbing perfume behind her ears, in the hollow of her throat, behind her knees.
How did one dress for an evening in which she knew she would be naked? She found a short, soft-knit black skirt that wrapped around and tied at her waist, paired it with a stretchy black top and left off her bra and panties. What was the point? And she felt gloriously naked beneath her clothing. Her high black pumps completed the outfit, which left her with a few minutes in which she had nothing to do but wait. To imagine. To focus on the tremors running through her body like a series of small earthquakes. She stood by the window in her living room, looking out as the fog
drifted across the night sky. There was no moon tonight to illuminate
the streets below. But she knew the city was still there, as endlessly
busy as always. Yet she felt entirely insulated from the bustle and the life there. The anticipation of the night ahead made her feel separate from everyday life, from other people, from everyone but Shaye. Her heart gave a good, hard thud when he