Submission

CHAPTER ONE-PART 1

Considering what the building housed, it was a lot more normal than Sable had expected. Feeling more than a hint of trepidation, she walked to the entrance to enter. It was like stepping into another world. A foreign, strange, alien world that looked painful and bewildering. What did people get out of this?

Sable eyed the leather and vinyl costumes in one section as she slipped past, thinking they were hot— not in a sexually attractive way, but imagining how much one must sweat inside them. Her eyes widened when she came upon a hood with a zipper for the mouth and no other openings. It baffled her that people voluntarily submitted to having something like that put on them, taken off only at another person’s discretion.

With a small shudder, she bypassed a selection of crops on a handsome mahogany stand. As she walked past the whips, she couldn’t resist reaching out to touch one of the strips, finding it soft and supple. It could probably still do a lot of damage in the wrong hands.

Finally, she navigated her way through the BDSM products barring her way, until she arrived at the front counter. To her surprise, Julian Talos himself was working the counter. Her research had led her to think he wasn’t often so hands-on with the customer side of his business, and she was relieved not to have to try to track him down.

Head bent, he was focusing on something, giving her a moment to observe him discreetly. His hair was longer than she remembered it, secured at the back of his neck in a black leather band that contrasted nicely with the pale blond locks. Had he been that tall and solidly built the previous time she’d met him? Maybe, but she hadn’t paid much attention. She was paying attention now. To her surprise, he wasn’t in some outrageous bondage costume; instead wearing a white button-down shirt and black pants.

“Have you seen enough?” he asked without looking up.

Heat bloomed in her cheeks at being caught, and she forced herself to cross the remaining distance to the counter. “Julian Talos?” She caught her breath when he looked up, caught off-guard by the unusual

deep lavender shade of his eyes. Purple eyes were easy to acquire via contacts, but something about this man suggested he wasn’t one to hide behind artifice. He’d worn sunglasses on their previous meeting, so she had no basis for comparison.

His chiseled lips curved at the edges, but that was his only change of expression. “Yes. Who are you?”

Sable licked her lips, suddenly nervous. “You probably don’t remember me, but we met once.”

He nodded, looking bored. “I see. Was it on the scene? Maybe at a convention?” At her head shake, he asked, “What can I do for you, Ms.—”

“Sable Collins.” Ingrained manners had her extending her hand, and she could see the hint of amusement in his eyes when he took it. She tried to ignore the spark of electricity that seemed to singe her at his touch. “We met a couple of years ago, when you were dating my sister.”

“I’m afraid I don’t remember you.”

She nodded. “We only met once. I was picking up Sabrina.”

Julian’s eyes narrowed. “Sabrina Sparrow?”

Sable nodded. “That’s her stage name. Her real name is Sabrina Collins.”

He smiled, and the change was breathtaking. “I remember Sabrina, but we never dated.”

She frowned. “Sabrina introduced you as her date.” Julian put away the papers he’d been examining before leaning a bit closer to her. She had to struggle not to step back instinctively. © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“She was uncomfortable with you knowing the truth.” He chuckled softly. “Believe me, I was as surprised as you when she said I was her date.”

“What were you then? A one-night fling?” She tried to keep the disapproval from her tone, not wanting to alienate the one man who might be able to help her, but it was difficult. Her sister would have been twenty-one then, and a naïve twenty-one at that. She guessed Julian must be in his late thirties, so definitely old enough to know it was sleazy to seduce a girl her age.

Julian shook his head. “I was her director, as in a movie.”

Sable frowned. “Why wouldn’t she tell me?”

“It was a bondage movie, Ms. Collins. When she talked to me the next day, she gave me the impression you wouldn’t approve of her decision to participate.”

Sable sagged slightly. “Yeah, she was right.” Her eyes narrowed. “It must have been you who got her into all this nonsense.”

Mouth tight, he said, “Wrong again. It was her first adult film, but she came to me via her boyfriend, who was in a couple of scenes. I don’t know the details of their private life, but he seemed like her Master, and they had a good rapport, with a lot of trust.”

She couldn’t hold back a small snort. “Master? Trust?” Shaking her head, she glared at him. “This is all crazy.”

“Why are you here, Ms. Collins?” His eyes gleamed with a hint of irritation. “You clearly don’t have a genuine interest in the lifestyle.”