Nora laughed. Good question.
“Hard to explain. For some of my clients, kink is not a choice. It’s like a drug. And I don’t mean that in the bad way. I’m not talking a drug like cocaine or heroin. I mean it’s a drug like, I don’t know...insulin or Prozac. Our sadist priest, for example. Inflicting pain for him works like Lithium. He can get surly as fuck if he goes without too long. You get him a steady supply of kink—maybe once a week—and the man has the patience of the aforementioned Job. So I have a client or two who need kink like someone with asthma needs an inhaler. That’s one kind of kink emergency.”
“What’s the other?”
“The person is rich and horny and Kingsley wants to keep him happy.”
“That, I can understand. But if you don’t have appointments, why am I here today?”
“Kingsley’s orders. If I go out and about, he wants someone with me.”
“Even when you aren’t working?”
Nora didn’t really have a good answer for that.
“Nora?”
She started humming.
“Kingsley didn’t say I had to guard you when you weren’t working, did he?”
“What was that? I didn’t hear you over my humming?”
“I said—”
Nora started humming again.
“Nora.”
“If I flashed you my breasts would you be shocked into forgetting this line of questioning?”
“I’ve already seen your breasts,” Lance reminded her.
“Dammit.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that wouldn’t work. I’m just saying I’ve already seen them.”
Nora got off the couch and came to stand in front of Lance. She pulled her T-shirt off over her head. Underneath she wore a red push-up bra.
“Nora, I was just—”
“Too late,” she said, unhooking her bra in the front.
Lance covered her hands with his before she could finish.
“I don’t want to lose this job,” Lance said.
“You think if I show you my breasts you’ll fuck me right here on the floor? ‘Yes’ is a perfectly acceptable answer.”
“I think...” Lance took a ragged breath. “If you take off any more clothing, I’ll beg you to take me to your bedroom, and I’ll worship your body until the world ends.”
“That’s a long time, Sailor,” Nora said, pressing closer to Lance.
“Your body deserves all the attention it can get. So please don’t ask me to pay it any more attention because I will.”
It was moments like this that Nora wanted to curse S?ren for making it impossible for her to be completely selfish 100 percent of the time like she wanted to be. Knowing Kingsley, he would ask Lance if he and Nora slept together. Knowing Lance, he’d fess up. Lance would get fired. Nora would get a slap on the wrist.
“Fucking conscience,” Nora sighed. “Always cock-blocking me.”
“Pesky thing, consciences,” Lance agreed.
“Yes, I would be a much happier person—” Nora fastened her bra and bent over to scoop up her T-shirt.
“Nora, what the fuck?” Lance grabbed her by the arm so quickly she flinched.
“Jesus, what?”
“What happened to you?” He spun her around and Nora groaned.
Oops. Caught.
“Nothing. Just kink.”
She pulled her arm out of Lance’s grasp.
“Kink? That’s not kink. You got the shit beat out of you. Those welts are deep. Who did this to you?” he demanded.
“Nobody you know. I wasn’t mugged. I played last night.”
Nora pulled her T-shirt on.
“With who? Vlad the Impaler?”
“He’s not into impaling. Not even he is that kinky. Wait, what kind of impaling are we talking about?”
“Nora, I’m not joking. Your back is a mass of bruises.”
“Yeah, so what? Take your shirt off. Show me your bruises.”
“I know what my back looks like. That’s not the point.”
Nora crossed her arms over her chest.
“I think it is the point. It’s okay for me to beat the shit out of you, but I’m not allowed to submit to the same kind of pain?”
“No, it’s not okay. You’re a woman. You don’t play that hard on women.”
“Are you judging me?”
“I’m judging him.”
“It was a woman,” Nora lied. She raised her chin and gave Lance her coldest, most Dominant stare. “What are you going to do now? Go beat up a woman on my behalf?”
“You just said ‘He’s not into impaling.’ Was it a man or a woman you played with?”
“Both. He/She is a hermaphrodite. I think. I never asked. Personal questions, you know.”
Lance turned his back on her and sat down hard on the couch. His posture was tense, his jaw clenched with anger.
“Lance?” Nora sat down next to him. “I’m a Switch. I don’t tell people that. I mean, everyone in the Underground knows I used to be a sub. They think I’m an ex-sub or former sub. Kingsley calls me a ‘reformed sub.’”
“Not so reformed, I guess.”
Nora laughed ruefully. “Yeah, I still sub sometimes. Only with one person, though. He’s special. What we were was special.”
“How special?”
“Sometimes he calls me, tells me he needs me, and I go to him. I left him, but...sometimes I forget that for an hour or two. Sometimes I forget for the whole night.”