Body Shots (Masters of Pleasure 2)

“Honey, this may be hard to hear, but I think you’re misjudging Richard. I don’t think he’s quite as bad as you make him out to be. I mean, are you certain this is what you want?”

Crystal touched her swollen lip and straightened her spine. “Yeah, it’s exactly what I want.”

“You should come home then,” her mother replied. “If only for a few days. It might help to clear your head.”

Living under the same roof as her mother and listening to the woman expound on Richard’s many virtues? No way in hell. “Thanks, but I’ll be fine.” She sniffled and said, “I need to deal with this on my own.”

“I understand, dear. Call me when you get settled, okay?”

“Sure,” Crystal said, feeling a weight lift off her shoulders for the first time in years. She looked at the clock on the microwave and knew her time was quickly running out. “I need to go before he gets back.”

“All right then. Love you, dear.”

“I love you, too,” she said.

As they ended the call, Crystal looked down at the signed divorce papers. A life without Richard. Without pain and suffering. Without constant ridicule. She sent up a quick thank-you to the heavens for finally answering her prayers, before heading for her bedroom. The sooner she got the hell out of there, the better.

2

Five months later . . .

“Your birthday is coming up and I’m taking you out. That’s all

there is to it.”

Crystal cringed. How pathetic, having her best friend take pity on her on her birthday. It was bad enough that Crystal still lived in Mollie’s house after five months of searching for an apartment and coming up empty. Five months working hard as an applications developer had given her a sense of purpose. She’d even taken up self-defense classes and managed to sweat off the extra pounds. The biggest step for Crystal had been making an appointment with a therapist. Opening up about her relationship with Richard had really helped. No doubt there had been a lot of changes in Crystal. Mentally and physically. She was ready to take the final step and get her own place. It would go a long way toward making her feel whole again.

But Lord knew, she didn’t want Mollie arranging her nightlife for her. It made her feel like a little lost orphan or something. Even though Mollie didn’t mean it that way, Crystal still wanted to crawl under the rug of humiliation. At one time, Mollie had been happily married and well on her way to popping out a baby or two. Three years ago, Alec had come into Mollie’s life and the pair had been madly in love. He’d brought life into her friend’s eyes. Crystal had been a little envious that Mollie’s marriage was such a happy one when hers was such a train wreck. But when Alec had died in a horrible car accident, Mollie had all but given up on love. She hated to see her sweet-natured friend so closed off, even now.

Mollie reached across the table and swatted her hand. “Don’t be so difficult. I’m taking you out for your birthday, and that’s the end of it. Besides, you know I always enjoy your company.”

Crystal forced a smile to her lips as she picked up her mug and sipped her hot coffee. The temperature was in the eighties outside, and it wasn’t much cooler in Mollie’s kitchen. As she looked around, taking in the nearly fifty-year-old house, Crystal sighed. It’d been Mollie’s grandmother’s house until she’d passed away and left everything she owned to her only granddaughter. Crystal knew Mollie wanted to renovate the old two-story, but she couldn’t seem to bring herself to change even the color of the paint, much less let some construction crew tromp around getting drywall dust all over everything. No, Crystal thought with fondness, the house would probably never change. Mollie liked it the way it was, well-loved and full of memories.

Crystal took another sip of her coffee and desperately tried to come up with a logical reason why she couldn’t spend the evening with Mollie. It wasn’t that she dreaded going out with her best friend, but she suspected it would be a pity date. No thanks.

“Have you ever heard of Kinks?”

The question seemed to come out of left field. Crystal shook her head. “Er, what is Kinks?”

“It’s a nightclub, but it’s not really your average nightclub.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a bondage club,” she explained. “A place where you can be a submissive and let a man spank you just for the sheer joy of it.”

Mollie was into sex games? “How is it that I didn’t know this about you?” They’d been besties for years.

Mollie handed her a business card with the words Kinks Nightclub scrawled across it in bold letters. Below that was written, Get Your Kink On. “Come on. You’ll have a great time, I promise.”

Crystal wasn’t sure what to say, except, “No way in hell.” She dropped the business card on the table, and it sat there like a ticking time bomb. “I do not want to be spanked.” She’d never be that vulnerable with a man again.

“Look, you need something to wipe that sad expression off your face. I know Richard’s abuse left a lot of emotional scars, but it’s time to get back out there, don’t you think?” Mollie looked her over, then said, “Besides, you might just like it.”

Crystal shook her head. “Am I required to, like, have sex with someone?”

Mollie rolled her eyes. “Of course not, dork. It’s not like that. It’s like a regular club with music and a lot of people enjoying a common passion. The difference is that their sexual preferences are sort of out there for all to see. It can be shocking when you see a man spanking a woman. And there’s a lot of PDA. But all you need to do is watch and enjoy.” She shrugged. “Hey, who knows, maybe you’ll meet a hot, rich guy.”

Crystal covered her face. “Oh God, I can’t believe I’m actually considering this.”