Model Release (The Art of Domination #1) (12 page)

An Excerpt From Erika
Masten’s

The Ringmaster: Cirque de Plaisir

“Ringmaster,” I
repeated to Olivia, then cleared my throat to regain her attention as she
stared after the utterly unselfconscious Naomi.
 
“You may call me Ringmaster.”

The blonde swallowed
with obvious effort and nodded in acknowledgement, flushing disarmingly across
the apples of her cheeks and the bridge of her nose.
 
“I’m ready to audition, Ringmaster.”

“That I highly doubt,”
I muttered under my breath as I motioned for my guests to follow me and led
them back down to the warehouse floor where the real work of the set-up for
tonight was taking place now that the audience had cleared out.
 
“Have a seat,” I told Gwynne and pointed to
one of the crates that hadn’t been moved yet, then to Olivia said, “Up, onto
the stage.”

She did as commanded
and without hesitation, I noted with approval, but she turned with a concerned
look bending her tawny brow.
 
“I’m going
to audition here?
 
In front of everyone?”

I glanced about the
vast, open room.
 
Rafe, still dressed as
the foreman from the performance, was marking out directions on the concrete
floor for what stages and equipment went where.
 
Slighter, sandy-headed Thom was passing around small bottles of sports
drinks and cautioning everyone to mind their electrolytes like the mother hen
he was, combination admin manager-chef-physical therapist, keeping my athletes
in top shape.
 
Griffin and his
pixie-faced partner, Piper, were working with the crew installing the Chinese
Pole, making sure it was secure enough for their performance.

“No one is paying
attention to us, Kitten,” I said before I thought better of it.

I avoided looking down
again into that delicate, angular face, not wanting to see her reaction to the
spontaneous endearment, and took the whip from my hip.
 
From the corner of my eye, I saw her hand
clench into a sudden anxious fist at her side.
 
A most curious reaction, like I was going to use the lash on her, and
further proof this was a futile exercise.
 
If she was this skittish now…

Still, she
persisted.
 
“All right.
 
What do you want me to do?”

So many things.
 
In part to give myself time to consider my
response, I stepped up onto the stage and made a slow circuit around waiting
Kitten, made a show of studying every line and curve of that petite body. As I
noted the firm, smooth musculature along the back of her calves and the front
of her thighs, along that delightfully heart-shaped buttocks, I asked, “Are you
trained in dance?”

“No,” she began,
shaking her head and sending shimmery waves of movement through the sleek
curtain of her hair. I was actively resisting the urge to run my hands through
those strands when she corrected herself, “Well, sort of. A little. It was
someone else actually taking the lessons, but I was her partner for practice.”
I stopped and narrowed my eyes at her. Was every interaction this awkward and
difficult for her? As though she read my expression, she hissed her breath out
hard through her nose and her clenched teeth. “It’s complicated. Ballet and
modern dance, to answer your question.” Finally.

I resumed my circuit.
“I can tell; you have a dancer’s legs.” From the confusion clouding those
pretty green eyes, she looked like she wondered if that was a good thing. My
hardening cock certainly thought so. The parts of my brain not currently
occupied with inappropriate considerations of all the ways I could stroke this
kitten wholeheartedly disagreed.

The narrowness of her
waist made her hips seem larger than they were, lending an alluring sensuality
to a body that was actually quite lean upon close examination. The full round
swells of her breasts were a perfect counterpoint to the curve of her ass. In a
harness, with a tight leather cincher around her waist, she would have looked
stunning—in an Old Hollywood, vintage erotica way.

When the impulse to
thread my fingers through her hair overtook me again, and I reached a gloved
hand out for her, Kitten—Olivia—caught the movement from the corner of her eye
and flinched away so slightly. And I caught my breath, though I wasn’t entirely
certain why. Perhaps because, though I was of the cooler and more aloof variety
of Doms, I was unaccustomed to women wincing away from me. Or perhaps because
her apprehension made me wonder if she just expected rough treatment, if
someone had misused her in the past. I took the touch of nausea in my gut for
the sickness I’d have felt at the thought of any little innocent being
mishandled and abused.

“Easy there,” I muttered
as I removed my right glove before tangling my fingers in the silky strands
just above the nape of her neck. It was unexpected, both my urge to soothe
her—I was not the fawning Daddy Dom sort, even outside the performance ring—and
the cool softness of her hair, like cream flowing along the back of my hand.
“It’s good that your hair is so long and straight,” I continued to encourage
her despite being at a loss still as to why I would. She smiled nervously.
“Though it could be a bit longer.” And at this she frowned, leaving me with the
smallest hint of guilt.

I peered at her again,
feeling my own lips pressing into a subtle frown—at myself. This Olivia was so
unlike Evelyn, my last assistant, and not what I’d have expected of any of my
performers. When I’d auditioned
Evi
, the busty
brunette had thrown back her shoulders and cocked one hip provocatively,
exuding sex appeal and a larger-than-life personality that made her a natural
for the stage. She was a brat submissive par excellence.
 
Every facial expression, every sigh, every
tiny gesture had always been a choreographed reaction playing for maximum
effect.

Olivia?
 
She was an open book, a bundle of live wire
nerves without the least protection. What she felt down to the bone was the
reaction that rose to the surface, unfiltered and unadorned, so vulnerable and
honest. The stage was going to break this girl’s heart, assuming I didn’t do it
first.

Buy
The Ringmaster: Cirque de Plaisir at your favorite online retailer.

Also
available in paperback from select outlets.

DOMINATION ROMANCE BY ERIKA MASTEN

At His Whim: His #1

In His Service: His #2

At His Mercy: His #3

Under His Sway: His #4

In His Grip: His #5

In His Wake: His #6

For His Sake: His #7

In His World: His #8

The Ringmaster: Cirque
de Plaisir

For a full list of Erika Masten titles, including short
erotica, see her website at
http://erikamasten.com
.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I’m
the girl next door with an unexpectedly wicked mind (and an addiction to sexy
high heels). There’s nothing quite like the thrill of turning forbidden desires
and secret fantasies into erotic tales with literary flare and a dirty mouth.
Let me tell you a very naughty love story…

Erika
Masten

Email:
[email protected]

Web
Site:
http://erikamasten.com

Blog:
http://erikamasten.blogspot.com

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