Six Signs of Submission (Desire Island 6)

Lainey didn’t own any fetish wear, but she’d packed a clingy black Spandex dress for tonight’s party. She wore this, along with a pair of shiny black high heels, her legs bare.

“I don’t know,” she hedged. “Like I’ve said before—I’m more of a voyeur than participant. I can’t really imagine spanking or whipping some dude, and no way am I going to allow anyone to do that to me.”

“I get it,” Abbie said kindly. “It can be a little scary at first.”

Lainey snorted. “I’m not scared,” she asserted.

How many times had she said those words?

Her three older brothers, who were two, four and six years her senior, still razzed her about it, claiming those were the first words out of her mouth as a toddler. Her body had been one big bruise growing up, as she tried desperately to keep up with the boys. Her overriding emotion as a kid had been outrage at being left out.

She could still see the fierce, dirt-smudged, tangle-haired, determined little girl in her memory—balancing on rock ledges, leaping from the tallest tree into the creek behind their house, racing down hills on her bike, hands off the handle bars—and any number of other stupid, dangerous things, all in an effort to gain their attention and approval. She hadn’t been just as good as a boy—she’d been better.

It wasn’t the idea of erotic pain that frightened her, but more that she would make a fool of herself during a scene. What if she couldn’t handle it? Her new friends were so strong and confident—traits she’d at first thought at odds with being sexually masochistic, but was coming to understand were essential for true submission. While she was curious about the whole thing, she had no idea if she’d love it, or totally freak.

“You don’t have to decide now.” Kendra placed a comforting hand on Lainey’s arm. Then she added with a grin, “Wait and see if Master Caelan’s pal, Cooper Hanson, shows up. Then decide.”

Lainey startled and then furrowed her brows. At the same time, her heart kicked up several notches. “What are you talking about?”

“You don’t live on the island,” Abbie said with a smile. “And you’re still new enough not to have been sucked into the gossip vortex that exists around here. The staff here are way more than just colleagues who share a living space. We’re a small, close-knit community who come into daily intimate contact with each other. So when Master Caelan asked Skylar, she came to me since you and I work closely together. I was going to tell you about it earlier but I got distracted and forgot.”

“Forgot what?” Lainey demanded impatiently.

“That Cooper Hanson was asking about you,” Kendra replied for her cousin. “And not about your credentials as a fitness instructor,” she added with an exaggerated wink.

“He was?” Lainey squeaked. Then she blushed at her lack of control. Millers did not squeak.

At the same time, her nipples tightened at the thought of seeing him again. Cooper was a little over six foot tall, with the muscular build of an athlete. He had black, wavy hair that flopped over onto a high forehead, sweat making it curl appealingly along the back of his neck. His dark eyes had captured her in their gaze, making it hard to look away. He had a strong nose above a sensual mouth. He was, in a word, gorgeous.

He’d caught her staring several times during the step class, and their eyes had locked before she’d found the wherewithal to glance away. Was the attraction mutual?

Not that she’d planned to do anything about it.

It wasn’t that she’d mind meeting someone new. She’d been without a steady guy for over a year now, since breaking off the engagement with Ian. But she’d decided when she took this job that it made no sense to get involved with the guests. After all, they were, by definition, just passing through, and one-night-stands were not her thing.

“He was,” Abbie confirmed. “And so, naturally, we had to get the scoop in return. Skylar pumped Master Caelan right back for information on his friend. Want to hear it?”

Lainey almost said no—a knee-jerk response in an effort to pretend she didn’t care. But she did care. A lot.

“Yes,” she admitted.

“Most important info first. He’s a Dom,” Abbie said. “And he’s single. He has his own boat anchored at the private marina near the Master’s Cottage on the other side of the island.”

“Yeah,” Kendra added eagerly. “He’s a tech genius, apparently. Had some kind of complicated startup business that has something to do with neurosurgical techniques or something like that. He just sold it for a gazillion dollars to some big company. In other words, he’s loaded.”

“It’s just as easy…” Abbie began in a silly, singsong voice, grinning at her cousin.

“…to fall in love with a rich man as a poor one,” Kendra finished with a laugh.