Page 6 of Delicious Surrender
The encounter almost made her forget the other disaster. The small matter of a reference letter from someone in the scene!
Brynne dug her cell phone out of her bag and started down the street. Jared picked up after half a ring. “How did it go? Did you get the job?”
“No, not even close! I’m trying not to get hysterical here in the middle of Covent fucking Garden.” She stopped and put her hand over her mouth so no one passing by would hear her. “Apparently, I need a reference from a real Dom!”
“What? You can’t be serious?”
“Oh, I’m deadly serious,” she growled into the phone.
“Wait, did you do what I told you? Did you act reserved andsubmissive?”
Jared had warned her not to get prickly, but how dare he assume she failed?
“Dammit, I acted the right way!” Her voice was drawing attention from passersby. “Garrick put me at ease. He was very nice, but that’s not enough. He needs this letter. Without it, I’m screwed.” Sighing heavily, she added, “I also had a run-in with a gorgeous but horrible man.”
“Geez, girl. What did he look like?”
“Tall, dark hair, chiseled jaw, chilling green eyes… And he probably has pointy teeth.”
“That would be Master Gage.”
“Yeah, I figured. He made me weak at the knees—until he opened his mouth. I’m disgusted to say I probably would have stripped naked if he’d told me to.”
“Too bad he didn’t. Then you might have gotten the job without going to a local dungeon for a reference.”
She heard him chuckling into the phone and wanted to throttle him. “Jared, this is not funny. What the hell am I going to do?”
“I know someone. She is wonderful, and if I tell her you’re a novice, I am sure she will go easy on you.”
Brynne felt herself go pale. “Are you joking? Who is she? Wait, are you suggesting I go see your dominatrix friend?” Her mouth went dry at the idea of experiencing a real-life scene, after thinking about it for so long.
“Yes. It’s better than paying a stranger.”
“Bloody hell. Can’t I pay for the service and get a letter, without, you know?” she couldn’t bring herself to finish.
“Oh sweetie, that’s not how it works. A proper Domme won’t fake this kind of thing. Mistress Patricia is well known across Europe—a reference from her will guarantee you the job. The only thing is, she won’t say she instructed you unless she did.”
“Fuck. Me.”
“No, not unless she’s attracted to you, and it’s not one of your hard limits.”
“Christ, Jared, that’s not what I meant, and you know it!” Brynne groaned loudly. “Look, I’ve got to go. I’m drenched and heading underground. We’ll talk tomorrow at work, okay?”
“Don’t worry, Bree, it will be fine. You’ll see. Bye.”
She punched the end call icon and stomped down the steps. She could not believe her luck. It wasn’t like she expected success without hard work, but without Club Dominus, she would have to venture into the creepier fetish nightclubs. The thought of going to an actual dominatrix made her stomach flutter…and something else she refused to acknowledge.
Her thoughts returned to Gage. The man was annoyingly gorgeous and so bloody rude. When he was towering over her, she felt like a rabbit in the sights of a hawk. What did it say about her, that she wondered what it would be like to be caught?
3
A Special Letter of Reference
It was ten past nine when Brynne slid into her cube, hoping to go unnoticed.
No such luck. The city editor’s assistant, the prim and pointy-nosed Margaret Smythe, peered over the wall of her cubicle. “Late again, Brynne?” she said in her condescending tone.
“There was a delay on the underground. It was beyond my control.” Brynne was past caring if this owlish woman reported all her transgressions to her boss. Early on, she’d played the game to make a good impression. Today, she was in no mood to explain herself.