Free Cardinal's Rule by Tymber Dalton Page B

Explain to me why we didn’t
    hook up sooner?”
    He nuzzled her nose with his. “Because I’m a good boy. I follow orders.”
    She reluctantly walked him to the door, still wondering if she shouldn’t try to talk him into staying. Before he left he turned to her and gave her one last hug and kiss.
    “Believe me, it’s not that I don’t want to stay later. If I do, I’ll be too tempted to take you to bed.”
    “Who says that’s a bad thing?”
    He stroked her cheek again. She loved that. “It’s not a bad thing, but after the shock you’ve had today, I’d feel like I was taking advantage of you. I’d rather take things a little slower. I’ve waited nearly three years to ask you out. It won’t kill me to wait a little longer to take things to the next level.”
    After one last lingering hug, he left. She waved to him from the open doorway until his
    taillights disappeared down her quiet street. Then she stepped inside, closed and locked the door behind her.
    Her living room lay empty before her except for the ghostly memory of kicking Cris and
    screaming at him.
    The wonderful feelings her evening with Bob had brought her evaporated.
    She closed her eyes and groaned. Did I really say that? Did I really tell him I wanted my Master back?
    She hoped it was a figment of her shattered composure, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that’s probably exactly what she’d said.
    Another round of tears threatened and she held them back. Despite all her claims, deep in her heart it was the truth. As much as she hated Cris for what he did to her, and as much as she never wanted to make herself that vulnerable again, deep down inside part of her missed and craved that connection, that love.
    The service.
    Sleep wouldn’t be possible, no doubt about it. She spotted Landry’s business card on her
    dresser, where she’d laid it after undressing before her shower. Picking it up, she saw he’d scribbled their hotel and room number on it. On U.S. 41, near where Fruitville ended.
    She could be there in twenty minutes. Just to talk.
    Just to hear his nutty deal. If she took him up on it, she could pay off her house and maybe take some time off, catch up on credits to renew her nursing license.
    Quit being Mistress Cardinal forever.
    Closing her eyes, she tried to think about Bob’s blue gaze and all she could see now was Cris’
    brown eyes.
    Or Landry’s intense green stare.
    There was no way she’d be able to put this evening behind her, one way or the other, until she got some of her many questions answered.
    Swearing, she pulled on a pair of jeans and grabbed her keys.
     

Chapter Five
    Landry didn’t look at his slave as he drove away from Mistress Cardinal’s house. “So? What
    happened?”
    The slave studied his hands.
    “Twenty-five with a cane for not answering immediately. I asked you a question. Answer it
    now, or you’ll get fifty.”
    “She was very upset.”
    He laughed. “Duh. I figured that much. Who did I save you from out there? What was his name, Bob?”
    “I don’t know. He was the man we saw with her at the club.”
    “Ah. Maybe the information I received at the club was wrong and she has a boyfriend after all.”
    Dammit. That would put a kink in his plans.
    “I don’t think so, Master. I get the impression they haven’t been seeing each other long.”
    A little relief and hope crept in. “Good. Now tell me what happened.”
    As slave related how she’d reacted, Landry nodded, trying not to speak or comment during the story. His heart broke for the woman, for the pain she’d gone through at his expense.
    He never wanted to hurt someone. Well, not like that , at least. He was a sadist, not an asshole.
    Slave gave him as verbatim a recollection as he could. Landry contemplated what she’d said.
    “You took her Master from her. That’s an interesting comment for her to make, considering what she did to you and how she formally withdrew her submission.”
    Slave