“You’ve thought a lot about this.”

“I have to. Knowing what makes people tick means I can tailor my club to certain tastes.”

Shiori leaned in. “Bullshit. You were speaking from the point of view of a man who was worried about being judged, which means you understand the male submissive mind-set because you were one.”

Merrick smirked. “We all have our secrets, Mistress B, and as long as Knox serves you well in private, does it really matter what the rest of us think?”

“No. But if private relationships were meant to stay behind closed doors, then you’d be out of business.”

“You’re absolutely right. Put a leash and a collar on that man and remind him who’s the boss.”

She laughed.

“Knox is incredibly possessive of you. And that has nothing to do with him being submissive but because he’s a man in an intimate relationship with you. I imagine he’s exactly the same way in public; he’d verbally and bodily threaten anyone who touches you because he holds you as precious. But here at Twisted? His possessiveness will be attributed to him being submissive since you’re a Domme. So be careful in your attentions to males he’ll deem a threat, okay? Because you will effectively out a man who’s not ready for it—and may never be.”

“I hadn’t thought of it that way. Thank you.”

“It’s what I’m here for.” He headed down to the other end of the bar to help a customer.

Shiori left the bar area, letting her gaze wander to the various goings-on. But she didn’t see anything; her thoughts were on her conversation with Merrick.

As soon as she saw Knox leaning against the back wall monitoring a threesome, her focus shifted.

A woman was tied to a wide sawhorse on her belly, hands bound behind her with rope. If Shiori remembered right, that sawhorse had a vibrator attached to the back end. So while one guy had his cock shoved in her mouth, his partner was ramming his cock into the woman’s ass. The woman with all her orifices filled clutched a bandana. If she dropped it, the scene ended. But she appeared to be enjoying herself too much to stop.

Shiori didn’t bother Knox since he was working. Instead she took stock of the crowd. One guy was openly masturbating. Several other couples were grinding against each other. But one young brunette with tits the size of beach balls, and probably just as plastic, was watching Knox. The scene would catch her attention, and then she’d be back gazing at him with an I’ve-got-this-in-the-bag smirk.

Jealousy stabbed her in the gut like a hot poker. Had Knox fucked that chick? How long ago?

Doesn’t matter. He’s with you now.

That’s when he scanned the crowd and saw her. He aimed a happy grin at her, and she gloated at being the sole focus of his attention.

Suck it, boob job. He didn’t smile at you like that. Just me.

She wanted to do more than just smile back; maybe she should blow him a kiss. But Merrick’s warning had stuck with her, so she just returned his grin.

As soon as the scene ended—with come shots on the woman’s face and ass, just like in bad porn—Knox meandered over.

“Hey. You ready for this?”

“For what? I’m just sitting in on your session.”

He shook his head. “I asked Master Mike if he wanted a twofer, and because he’s such a perverted guy, I had to explain it wasn’t me servicing both him and sub Mike, but two whips for double the pleasure, double the pain.”

“What’d he say?”

“That it’d be a great surprise for sub Mike.”

“Dueling whips. That’s something I’ve never done.”

Knox raised his hand, as if to touch her face, but dropped it back to his side. “Me neither.”

“Hi, Knox.”

The brunette who’d been eye-fucking him got so close she almost stepped between them.

“Hey, Angel.”

Shiori’s gaze sharpened. Why the fuck was he calling her angel?

“So are you still on duty?” she asked.

“For the rest of the night.”

She stuck out her lower lip in a pout that missed the mark of being sexy. “Too bad. It’s been a while for us. I’ll be around if you get off early.” She batted her lashes. “Or if you wanna get off. Come find me.”

Knox didn’t say anything. Then he looked at Shiori. “What?”

“Angel?”

“I doubt that’s really her name, Mistress B.”

So it wasn’t a term of endearment—lucky for him. Shiori closed the distance between them and set her hand on his chest. “Your taste in women has improved.”