Free Breathe by Lauren Jameson Page B

like, it was so not happening.
    “If you mark something as a hard limit, it means that you will not participate in it. Any Dom that you partner with here at the club has to respect that,” Angelo said.
    Samantha found it incredibly frustrating not to be able to raise her head, to look at his face.
    She knew that Jorge hadn’t believed she could be submissive, and that he would have shared that suspicion with his brother.
    She was determined to prove them wrong.
    “And may I ask what a soft limit is?”
    Angelo chuckled, and Samantha again thought of Elijah. She had enjoyed the sound of his laugh, had wanted to make him laugh again.
    With Angelo she just noted that she had pleased him and was probably not going to be subject to the discipline items that were listed on the checklist in her hand.
    “A soft limit is something that you’re not sure about it.” Angelo tilted her chin up, and Samantha sighed with relief when her eyes were again at a level where she could see her surroundings. Angelo smiled at her with pleasure. “Very nice. You may look at me now.”
    Samantha bit back a retort, then swallowed past the hint of disappointment that came with it.
    Shouldn’t she want to obey him? Shouldn’t it be making her feel good?
    She turned her head to keep studying the club, but Angelo cleared his throat, drawing her attention back to him.
    “Most Doms won’t appreciate a new sub looking at them, so it’s best to keep your eyes on me.”
    Samantha felt her brows draw together. No, this was not going at all how she’d planned.
    “I’d like you to finish filling out your forms. I’ll read them over as I show you around the club.” Samantha lifted the clipboard again.
    She was going to see this evening out. She knew it was too soon to form an opinion about anything.
    Still, she found that she was bitterly disappointed.
    She thought of Elijah, and of how he made her feel sparks that she’d never felt before. From the very first meeting he’d woken parts of her that had lain dormant ever since her teen years, when all the bad things had happened.
    Elijah had admitted that he was a Dom. So he would want a sub. What if that wasn’t what she was, not really?
    It would be over before it even started.
    Angelo was speaking again and Samantha forced herself to tune back in.
    “Remember as you fill the form out that a Dom will take a soft limit as an invitation to explore further, to push you.” Samantha’s eyes went wide.
    Her pen had been hovering over “auctioned off.” She hastily checked no.
    Animal roles. Boot worship. Mouth bits.
    She had no idea what any of those were, and drew question marks next to them. No way was she agreeing to something unless it had been explained in full.
    Asphyxiation. Scat. Breath control.
    Oh, hell to the no.
    Just when she was wondering if there was anything on the list that she was interested in—and if she had maybe completely misjudged her own needs—she came across an item that caught her interest.
    Bondage.
    She furrowed her brow at the paper. So many of the dreams she’d had had involved just that: rope, chains, cuffs, all holding her down, stripping away her control.
    The image stayed in her mind as she worked through the remainder of the checklist. By the time she was done, the idea of being naked and bound, of someone kissing her until she was breathless while her arms tugged at the chains, had slickened the space between her legs.
    “Ready for your tour?” Angelo asked patiently. Samantha nodded, feeling a tug of guilt as Angelo took the clipboard from her hands.
    He was a nice guy, taking the time to introduce her to this lifestyle.
    And yet as she followed him farther into the club, he wasn’t the one she imagined caressing her bound body.
    Bracing herself against the onslaught of images and sounds, Samantha found herself wondering what Elijah was doing right at that moment.

CHAPTER FIVE
    T he tires of his car crunched over the gravel as Elijah pulled up in