At that moment, out of the corner of my eye I see a police officer, moving toward me.

“Run!” says Lukas Thorn.

I leap up and start running.

“No, not that way! Left!”

I turn around and go left.

“There is a sandwich shop to the right of you. Duck into it and sit at a table. Put your head down like you’re eating a sandwich.”

I do exactly as he says. The police officer walks past me, looking around.

“Stay there,” says Lukas Thorn.

Soon I see him slowly walking past me. Without looking, he raises the transmitter and says, “Up. You haven’t proven to me that you’re naked yet.”

I leap up, out of the sandwich shop, and back over to the street.

“Stop,” he says. “Turn left.”

I’m not sure where he went. I don’t see him, but he must be able to see me. I follow his command.

“Turn right onto the cobblestone path.”

I’m heading into a dark alley, away from people. I trust that he knows where he’s leading me. Somehow I just know he wouldn’t hurt me.

“There is a door in the building to your right. It’s on a hinge. Just push it. It will open.”

How does he know this?

I do as I’m told. Sure enough, the ancient door swings open loudly on its squeaky hinge.

“Now, go to the other side of the room, assume Service Position, and await further commands.”

I do as I’m told, dropping to my knees on the hard concrete.

Chapter 14

I’m in what looks like an abandoned warehouse, but a very old one. Constructed from big gray bricks, 1800s or maybe even 1700s. Large floor to ceiling openings are covered by large wooden doors with slats. Many of the slats are knocked out or rotted away, allowing the light from the street in. A large section of the door to my right is missing. I can just make out people walking by on the busy main street. I see tourists passing by only inches from me on the other side.

The room fills with a feral presence, like the air pressure has changed.

It’s him. He’s here. I can’t help but glance to my left where I came in to see.

“Eyes forward and down,” he says. “In Service Position, you will always keep eyes forward and down while your mouth waits patiently for cock.”

The sharp command ignites my inner submissive slut. Oh my God, I love the filthiness of this. So abnormal. So deviant. So dirty.

I hear footsteps on the floor getting louder. A shimmering white catches the slatted light for a second in the corner of my eye. Must be that gorgeous flowing white shirt. Right now, I’d settle for a mouthful of the shirt alone.

I hear a beep in my ear. He turned the transmitter off.

Next thing I know he’s standing in front of me. Following instructions, I keep my head down and my eyes straight ahead.

“Good girl,” he says in that same evil tone that haunts my fantasies. “Very good girl.”

His hand reaches out to stroke my hair again. I shake, a sharp longing awakened at his touch. He twirls it in his fingers for a thousand years, then places his fingers under my chin to raise my face up.

“Look into my eyes.”

“If it pleases you, Director,” I say.

The recall of the phrase from our previous encounter, combined with the intense meeting of our eyes, triggers a look of shock on his face.

What is that?

Again, it’s like he’s figuring something out. Or is it recognition? He strokes my hair like he’s known me before. Did we meet in a previous life? Maybe we did. Maybe that’s why this bond is so strong between us. Maybe that’s why my life turned completely upside down the moment I first saw him in the airport back home with the Ray-Bans, absorbed in his iPad. I haven’t been the same person since.

What would Zander say if he could see me now? On my knees in an old abandoned warehouse in Nassau? Obeying the commands of a stranger?

We used to talk about sexual freedom and our dark desires. He was the only one I could really open up to about all that. I think he would be happy that I’m pursuing my sexual freedom, but probably concerned that I’m putting myself in danger.

But see, that’s the thing. I’m not putting myself in danger. I know danger, and while Lukas Thorn is unpredictable, commanding, and fiercely in control of the entire world around him, he exudes a vibe of protection much like Trevor . . . only darker and more feral. I feel the same sense of safety with him, but with an added special something that hovers in the recesses of my darkest yearnings.

“You are stunning,” he says. “I said that before to you at Lorena’s party, I know, but I can’t help and say it again. You’re so much like–”

He catches himself, snapping his Director face back on in a flash. He was about to say someone’s name.

Who, dammit? Whose name?

Suddenly, a piece of the enigmatic puzzle that is this dark beast was almost revealed to me, then ripped away again.

It’s a girl. There’s someone else out there. I remind him of someone else.

Oh, I know! No, it couldn’t be!

“You look a little like her,” said Karissa the night after Lukas Thorn saved my life.

“Look like who?” I said.

“Clarissa Stock, the girl who was with Lukas Thorn in the restaurant.”

I laughed. “The supermodel? Yeah, right.”

But then a few days later I saw Clarissa Stock on the cover of Cosmopolitan. And yes, there is a certain similarity in her eyes and nose. Maybe the lips too. But the rest of her . . . that bikini body . . . forget it. No way. Nothing like me.

Is that it, though? Is it her? A supermodel? I have no chance against a supermodel. Not a fucking chance in hell.

And yet . . .

I’m here and she’s not.

“You’ve been a very good girl,” says Lukas Thorn, snapping me out of my thoughts. “I think it’s time you get a reward for all your efforts.”

Thank you, God!

“If it pleases you, Director,” I say.

He laughs in that mildly amused tone again. Then he gazes down at me, launching a jubilant flurry through me, cascading in ripples all over my skin, like it’s matching the waves painted all over me.

“Do you want my cock?”

“If it pleases you, Director.”

“No, answer freely. Let your words flow. Permission granted.”

“I want your cock.”

“I’m not convinced. Sell me. Pitch me. Make me feel how much you want it.”

Easy. “I saw the outline of your cock through your tight black jeans on the airplane. I’ve pictured it in my mind ever since, wondering what it looks like.”

“Go on. You can’t have it until you prove to me how much you truly want it.”

Shit, I can’t believe I’m about to tell him what I’m about to tell him, but it’s like I feel unencumbered by any hesitation when I’m near him. He knocks all my boundary walls like they’re made of spongecake.

“The afternoon before Lorena’s party, I masturbated to thoughts of you . . . and your cock. I pictured it . . . I . . . uh . . . felt it in my mouth.”

“What was it doing in your mouth?”

“I was sucking it and it was fucking my mouth.”

“Were you deep-throating it?”

I nod. My underlook is real now. I’m so close. I’m going to have it! It’s close. It’s on its way. I can feel it. I’m going to have Lukas Thorn’s cock in my mouth! Haha! “It was slamming the back of my throat, just how I like it. I couldn’t breathe.”

“Good. Very good. Show me how you masturbate.”

I don’t hesitate for a second. I only hope I don’t blow right away. I reach down and touch my folds with my fingers.

Ahhhhhh!

“Lean back,” he says. I do. “Further on your elbows. Bend those knees. Raise your hips up so I can see.”

I do as I’m told, stroking some more, accidentally grazing my clit. Ooops, almost came there.

“Very good. You have a delightful pussy. Keep stroking yourself . . . but you may not come until I command you. I will say, ‘Come for me’ and then you shall come.”