Free Secret Shared: A S.E.C.R.E.T. Novel by L. Marie Adeline

me to quit my fantasies early for a chance to get to know him better. Matilda convinced me to stay in S.E.C.R.E.T., to push through. And though I was grateful in the end when Will and I tumbled into bed, now I wasn’t so sure I’d taken the right risk with the right man.
    “Cassie!”
    I almost leapt out of my skin at the sound of Matilda’s voice.
    “You scared me!”
    She stood in the doorway, her arms crossed.
    “Cassie, you know better than to come in here unsupervised. You aren’t supposed to see the board unless you’re a full Committee member.”
    “I can handle it. I mean, I knew some of these guys were coming back. What’s the rule? Three turns through S.E.C.R.E.T.?” I asked, keeping my voice from breaking. Why was I suddenly so upset?
    “Yes, that’s right.”
    “And how many more fantasies does Jesse have left as a participant?”
    “He’s performed two. So … one more,” Matilda said gently.
    “Pierre’s name is scratched out, I see.”
    “After the way he treated you at the burlesque revue? The Committee feels he is no longer S.E.C.R.E.T. material.”
    “I agree, which is such a shame. He’s very … well, you know. Have you told him yet?”
    “No.”
    “I’d love to listen in on that phone call, when the Bayou Billionaire’s told his services won’t be required.”
    “Powerful men aren’t used to being rejected. Pierre Castille will probably be no exception.”
    “So … Jesse. Is he completely off limits while he’s on the Fantasy Board?”
    Why did I ask that? I knew the answer! Oh god, I sounded like a lovelorn teenager.
    “Yes, he’s off limits. Unless you’re participating in athreesome scenario or training him. We may tee him up with Dauphine if her fantasy folder indicates an interest in his type.”
    “Right. I see,” I said, hardly camouflaging my disappointment.
    “Cassie, if you want us to put you and Jesse together again, to see if there’s still a spark, that can be done. But the rule is you then have to find a similar replacement recruit. Are you ready to replace him? To recruit a new man?”
    She had me there and she knew it.
    “I thought you only wanted to guide this year.”
    “I do. I’m happy to guide.”
    “So everything is as it should be.” She looked at her watch. “Why don’t you put some coffee on?”
    I headed to the kitchenette off the foyer. I thought of the way Jesse had kissed me. That kiss. That hungry, searching kiss! The way he pressed me against the cool tiles. How he lifted me onto the prep table, bringing me to orgasm with his mouth, that mouth , just his mouth, because he never entered me … Oh god, there I was getting wet just thinking of the possibility of Jesse inside me, moving on top of me, his arm muscles flexing in the light … I had the sudden urge to waltz back into the boardroom and remove his name.
    Danica stuck her head in the kitchenette.
    “She’s here. Dauphine. She’s out at the gate. Ready?”
    “Yup, sure, ready,” I said, my hands deep in my front pockets. “Let’s go!”



DAUPHINE
    HOW MANY TIMES had I walked past this mansion without any idea what went on in here? I lived only a few blocks away. The possibility of a lusher life had been right under my nose, and yet I couldn’t see it and hadn’t known it. It’s funny how you don’t know you’re ready for change until it appears on your doorstep. I stood in front of that imposing, vine-covered gate on Third Street, contemplating entering. You can always leave , I told myself. You do not have to stay. You do not have to do anything you don’t want to do.
    My unspoken motto in life had always been: if I can’t control it, I don’t trust it. It had worked with my business—I trusted almost no one after buying Charlotte out (Elizabeth being the rare exception), and I took control of the store myself. But my controlling nature had also prevented me from moving, changing and growing. I had stopped taking risks. Jeez, I even cut my own hair because