Free The Art of Redemption by Ella Dominguez Page A

the sway of her slim hips and the click of her heels on the tiled floor. He had just been eye-fucked and propositioned, though he wasn’t exactly sure what he had been propositioned for. His fingers found the card in his pocket and plucked it out.
    He didn’t recognize the name of the club or the address, but that didn’t surprise him. He wasn’t exactly a clubbing kind of person nor was he social to a great degree. When he wasn’t working, most nights were spent jacking off to online porn or hooking up with anonymous women. Flipping the card over, he read the inscription.
    Experience the ultimate power of domination & submission. Private, members only BDSM & fetish club.
    His pulse suddenly began to pound in his veins. Domination and submission … he had seen the images of such things, even read about it in passing, but to experience it? His cock hardened and his eyes darted around the room anxiously as if he was going to get caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He took a quick look at the painting again before waving a gallery representative over. Monday was two days away and two days too long as far as he was concerned. Until then, he would need something or someone to keep him occupied.
    When the woman approached him, she gave him a playful smile and began blabbering on about the artwork in question. He didn’t need the particulars. It spoke to him and that’s all that mattered. He fe igned interest and gave her his best sexy grin, allowing it to spread across his youthful face and reflect in his lusty blue eyes. When she turned away, he pressed his fingertips firmly into the small of her back before placing his hand on the curve of her waist to pull her closer. It was a bold and arrogant thing to do, but he had a tendency to be that way when it came to women, and more frequently than not, he unintentionally overstepped his boundaries. Her breathing quickened and when she peeked over her shoulder at him, the heat of excitement stained her cheeks pink. When her tongue slicked across her upper lip and she flashed her come hither eyes his way, he knew she had accepted his unspoken invitation. A flicker of satisfaction crossed his face and his eyes grew openly pleased. He had found his plaything for the night and he hardly put any effort into it.
    ***
    Isabel
    Taking a mental inventory, Isa recalled all the things she had placed in the small duffle bag that was hidden in her locker. Four pairs of jeans, the same number of shirts, a handful of undergarments, and her sketch journal. The rest would come later. Each item had been snuck to school over the last several weeks and secretly stashed away in preparation of her escape. Except for the journal, it was all brand new as she didn’t want any of her belongings tainted by her father’s touch or money.
    Nervous energy pumped through her veins as she counted out, for the third time, the cash she had been saving for just over a year. Sixteen hundred dollars and change is all she had to start a new life. She prayed it was enough. It had to be.
    The sound of her father’s footsteps on the stairs made her body tense up with fear. Quickly, she stuffed the cash under her mattress. Just as she grabbed a nearby French language book and hid behind it, the door to her bedroom opened and the stench of her father’s cologne drifted in. His cold stare could be felt boring into her from the other side of the hardbound book, but she didn’t dare lift her eyes to him.
    Would there be another beating tonight? She hope d not. Not so soon after the last one. Without warning, he lunged at her, tore the book from her hands and tossed it to the floor. The bed dipped next to her as he pinned her down on the bed by placing a knee in her pelvis and his forearm against her throat. When she closed her eyes and turned her face away from him, he forced the full weight of his body onto his arm, cutting off her airway.
    “You think I don’t know what you’re up to?” he breathed against her