Free Dungeon Time (Play at Work) by Kate Richards

will go home. We can go back to being casual work acquaintances, and nobody needs to know what happened last night.”
    His heart sank. “I didn’t mean that at all. It’s not you, it’s me.”
    She gasped and tried to stand, but he wrapped his hand around her wrist and held her. “Let me go. I heard that one when my ex dumped me for a girl who could have been Brigid’s conservatively-dressed sister. Blonde, thin, legs from here to tomorrow.”
    Vanilla was harder than it looked. Without his Dom superpowers, Edward did not know what to do to keep her in his life. Except maybe tell the truth. “Anna, you don’t understand. I am a Dom. Do you know what that is?”
    She nodded then shook her head, but sank back into the cushions and allowed him to tangle their fingers together. “I kind of sensed something last night, but I didn’t know it was formal. Like a title? Do you have people you boss around? Submissives, right?”
    “Not right now, no.” He struggled to find an explanation, but it came down to showing her. “I wanted to share this with you later. Anna, you’re the kind of woman I’ve always dreamed of. Smart, sexy, funny.”
    “Thank you, I think you’re pretty cute, too.” She batted her eyelashes at him and tossed her hair. He struggled not to laugh at her antics.
    “But I never for a moment saw you in the world I inhabit at night. For the right woman, I’d give all that up. And I think you might be her.”
    She sat up and tugged her hand free. “Whoa there. We’ve had one sort-of date, and you want to change your life for me? You don’t have a history of stalking, do you?”
    He shuddered. “I should think not. What I do have a history of is women coming and going from my life like buses. There will be a new one along every minute. But for quite a while, you’ve been on my mind.” He smoothed her hand between his palms, taking comfort in the contact.
    “Go on, I’m listening”
    “Whenever I visit Randolph, your pretty face is the first one I see. And you always make me feel good. I’ve been coming around more often. I don’t know if you noticed.”
    Anna ’s expression softened, and she leaned against him again. “I thought so, but I just assumed Mr. Marks preferred his meetings at his own office. He’s a very busy man.”
    “Yes, he is. And if you come tonight, you will probably see him at the club. Along with Mona.”
    She gaped. “Is everyone I know involved in some kind of sexual underground?”
    “Well, I—”
    “Wow. Just wow.”
    He waited, but she stayed where she was and didn’t try to move away. In fact, her nearness was starting to make it hard to think. To explain. He plunged forward, stroking a soft curl behind her ear so he could see her face better. “Here is what I have to offer. If you would hang out here this afternoon, I’d like to finish what we began last night. To make love to you, not as a Dom, just a man who likes a woman very much. Who wants to get to know her better.”
    She smiled up at him. “I like the sound of that. And then?”
    “And then we’ll go to the club tonight, together. You can see the other side of me and decide if I’m too depraved for a nice girl like you.” He still cringed at the thought but didn’t see any way out. If he didn’t take her, Roland would, and who knew what mischief the man would get up to. An image of Anna chained to one of the walls horrified him…then made him hard. I really am depraved.
    “That sounds fair to me. And I like you, too, Edward. I want to understand what makes you tick, what turns you on.”
    If only he could make regular man/woman love to her.

Chapter Seven
     
    Edward’s bedroom lay under the cottage portion of the house, tucked way back in the cliff. Approaching the doorway, she noted the brightness inside. Some kind of skylights refracted light so, even without a single window, it appeared just as well lit as the upper story. He led her in and stood aside, looking far more awkward and