Free Every Part of You: Takes Me (#5) by Megan Hart Page B

posted by the door said the place was now called Briar. Simone liked that name better. Leather had evoked burly men in assless chaps parading their subs around on the ends of leashes, which was her last memory of the place.
    Briar, on the other hand, made her think of pain.
    The prick and sting of thorns. The sweet, sliding warmth of blood trickling and tickling down her back or over her breasts. With that thought, Simone’s nipples peaked into twin, tight buds that strained against the thin material of the black tank top she wore paired with formfitting skinny jeans and crimson ballet flats. She’d sleeked her hair back from her face, adding twin pin curls on her cheeks, but lined her eyes with thick black liner, the rest of her face pale. Mouth as red as the shoes, red as the apple the witch gave Snow White. Red as blood.
    Still, she didn’t go in right away. Aidan had called ahead to arrange for her and Corrina to be allowed inside, but even if he hadn’t, Simone was sure she’d have been given entrance. It was that sort of night. Beside her, Corrina stood patiently, waiting for Simone to knock. She would wait however long it took, Simone figured.
    Suddenly, Simone didn’t want to wait any longer. She didn’t want to hold on to Elliott. She didn’t want to cling to that love, because even though it hurt her and she craved and loved pain the way some women yearned for diamonds, bruises on her inner thighs were nothing like shredding her heart in the cheese grater of emotional upheaval.
    He did not love her.
    He did not want her.
    “All right,” she murmured. “Let’s go.”
    She pushed the door open, Corrina following behind, and entered not a dark hallway pulsing with a techno beat and lined with cages, but a small Victorian parlor. A lion-footed fainting couch dominated the space, and upon it perched a tall woman dressed in black. Leather, yes, but soft and fitted to her body like a second skin. Bustier, pants, spiked boots. Blond hair.
    She smiled and stood. “Welcome to Briar. I’m Vera Delaney, I’m one of the administrators here. You must be Simone. Oh, hello, Corrina.”
    Corrina cast her eyes downward. “It’s good to see you again, Vera.”
    Vera held out a hand for Corrina to squeeze, then gave Simone a long, assessing stare. “Aidan said you’d need the royal treatment. It’s been a long time since you’ve been here, right? You used to come when it was called Leather.”
    “Yes. Long time ago.”
    “We’ve taken great care to make changes. Things are different here, now.” Vera tilted her head and gave Simone another smile. “I bet you’re different, too.”
    To Corrina, she said, “Aidan’s waiting for you in the blue room, sweetheart. Go on back.”
    Corrina nodded, and pushed through a beaded curtain, to the doorway beyond, and disappeared. Simone waited for Vera to say something. Vera didn’t, not for a few minutes, until at last Simone broke the silence.
    “What am I supposed to do?”
    “Whatever you want.” Vera paused. “Briar is a members-only club, though you’re Aidan’s guest tonight, and the other members are aware that you’re here. The rooms with closed doors are obviously off-limits except by invitation, but the main salon is open, as well as the library, the smoking room, and also the conservatory. Out the back, through the French doors.”
    “Things really are different,” Simone murmured, remembering black-painted rooms with black lights and bare mattresses on the floor.
    “Go and see how much,” Vera urged, one hand on Simone’s lower back.
    Her touch sent a flutter of something through Simone. Not quite desire, but at least the promise of it, which was more than she’d felt in weeks. Without a look back, Simone went through the curtain and into the darkness beyond.
    Many of the doors were closed, but a few were open, inviting an audience. She paused in one doorway to see a young woman wearing only a leather collar, the chain attached to it hooked to