Free Beauty and the Baritone by Lori Green

BEGINNING
     

    “Tell me why you’re here.”
    She looked around the room, trying to find the man who asked the question. Trying to find
him
.
    “David sent me.” Her voice trembled slightly. Of course she was nervous. However she wasn’t scared. He’d intended her to be terrified but either she was a great actress or this situation didn’t frighten her as much as he thought it should.
    “David said he was sending me a gift.” Ah, he didn’t mean to tell her that. It was all right though, she already knew. “You can place it on the chair and leave. I will thank David myself.”
    She didn’t move. She sat on the chair by the fire, her red hair tied loosely in a ponytail. Her shoulders were straight, her feet were sneakered and on the floor. Her hazel eyes were calm and looking toward the credenza where he hid.
    He imagined she saw the shadow by the large piece of furniture. She wouldn’t be able to see him, just the darkness he cast as he hid where there was no light, no chance of being seen.
    “Did he promise I would give you money for the delivery? Tell me how much and it will be waiting for you by the door.”
    “Senor Lopez, David didn’t send you a gift. He sent me.”
    “Is this the humor?” The anger in his voice was obvious. He didn’t play child’s games and now this woman sitting in his house, interrupting his life was playing some game initiated by a man he hadn’t seen in over a year.
    The woman was still nervous, he could see it in the way she swallowed, how her fingers twisted in her lap.
    “My name is Carolyn Gibbs. I was with the Met last season and I met David. At the end of the season I was told my contract wouldn’t be renewed. I decided to go to Germany to audition for a season but before I left I went to one of David’s private parties. Afterwards he suggested I come here instead.”
    In only a few sentences her world was laid bare. She was an opera singer without a job and considering her attractiveness, her voice was average. She was rootless and David picked up on her.
    David looked so all American; big, blond with a footballer’s physique. His sexual tastes were the stuff of legend. Mateo had been to a few of David’s parties back before his world shattered and although his tastes diverged from his friends, he had to admit the experiences had been heady.
    “You like the things that David likes?”
    “No. I didn’t care for the pain.”
    She didn’t seem to have any pretense which was confusing. Why she was sitting in Mateo’s home, saying she was from David? She’s gone to a party but she wasn’t into the same kinks David was. Yet, she appeared on David’s suggestion at his home.
    “What are you doing here?” She flinched from his words. His voice carried, he was a trained baritone. He could be heard unamplified in an amphitheater. In his own home, he could bring the roof down if he chose.
    “I’m here for you.” There was finally uncertainty. She stood slowly, her body unfolding in leanness. She was wearing jeans and a loose peasant blouse but he could see the shape of her full breasts, the narrowness of her hips. She had long legs, an angular face.
    She was prettier than he thought. If her hair was down, if she bothered with make-up and fine clothes she would be a true beauty.
    “I do not need you Miss Gibbs. Whatever you and David thought, you were wrong.”
    “I don’t think you understand.” She looked where he was standing and he took a step back. She couldn’t see him, he knew it. So why did he feel like she saw every flaw on his face?
    “Senor,” she continued, “I didn’t like the pain but I discovered I like the belonging. I discovered that I have a bent and wish to be enslaved to someone for sexual purposes. That’s why David told me to come here, to you.”
    His heartbeat thundered. The insanity of the moment screamed in his blood. Was this a joke? Some sort of strange humor that David alone understood?
    “Leave my home.”
    “I’m