Prologue

DANTE

Dante Ashton shouldn’t have been as attracted to Emma Hartley as he was. But he couldn’t stop finding excuses to be in the same area of the resort as she was. He was never much for fashion, but if she was watching one of the modeling shows that Couture held on an annoyingly frequent schedule, he made it a point to be there.

It had been about six years since he had last seen her. It was at her high school graduation a few towns over from where they both now worked. Of course, he had known her for most of his life. He and her brother, Joey, used to be close until life and distance got in the way. In fact, Dante didn’t even know where Joey was now. Probably stationed in the Middle East somewhere or defending an American asset in some dangerous foreign country.

Emma, on the other hand, was supposed to be in graduate school getting her master’s degree in education. He couldn’t figure out how she had ended up as a nanny/secretary at a fashion resort that doubled as a secret sex club.

“Master Dante,” one of his subs, Jana, said, falling down to genuflect at his feet.

“Rise,” he commanded. He sensed rather than saw Emma look over at them. At first, Dante had been reluctant to show her this side of him. Which was ridiculous, as he was not ashamed of being a Dom. But there was a part of him that didn’t want to scare her off. Of course, another part of him wanted her naked and shivering at his feet. It was a ridiculous part of him, because she was still Joey’s little sister, even though she was down in the dungeon area looking way too delectable for his sanity.

“Leo wanted me to let you know that we’re ready for you and await your pleasure.”

“Good,” Dante said. “Pick out your paddles and whips. I’ll be in there shortly.” After giving his orders, he locked gazes with Emma. Her innocence called to him. And if she had been anyone other than Joey’s sister, he would’ve approached her to see how willing she was to walk on the dark side with him.

But since she was someone who he held dear to his heart—and there were damn few of those people left—he would not risk having her turn away from him in fear or disgust when she saw the depth of his depravity and hunger.

Still, some of his desire must’ve shown on his face because she took a couple steps back before turning on her heel and hurrying out of the dungeon area of the secret sex club, Club Inferno, that her job at Couture was a front for. Dante knew it was for the best that Emma had fled from him, but it didn’t stop the pang of disappointment he felt at her escape. He bet she would have bruised nicely under his hand.

***

EMMA

Emma Hartley hurried out of the dungeon, worried that Dante would realize how aroused she had been by hearing him speak to his submissive that way. He was still as devilishly attractive as he always had been, except now without her brother between them, they were just two consenting adults in a club that specialized in pleasure and exploring kinks. Emma had a lot of kinks she wanted to explore, not to mention a deep-seated crush on Dante that had been unrequited since puberty.

Her new job at Couture and Club Inferno was exciting and challenging. What had started out as a nanny position with some administrative tasks quickly turned into more responsibility.

High above the dungeons of Club Inferno was a fashion-themed getaway called Couture. There were tennis courts and luxury dining rooms. Fashion designers and elite models graced the hallways with their presence. Some wanted just to be seen and relax. Others wanted to fill their days learning new things, such as dabbling in design and color. It was a playground for the rich and famous, owned and run by a rich and famous former stripper.

Emma’s days were filled so that she was busy, but not stressed or overwhelmed. When Emma wasn’t being a nanny to baby Ezina, she was busy doing the scheduling for both Couture and Club Inferno. She enjoyed scheduling events for the fashionistas as well as hooking up Doms with submissives and vice versa. She had a system to make sure she never mixed the two of them up: the calendars were on separate computers. She thought Colleen would balk at the added expense of having a separate desktop unit, but then Emma forgot who she was talking with. Money was literally no object. Emma might’ve even gotten away with ordering the leather mouse pad and wrist protector too, but she thought that might have been overdoing it a bit.

Her boss, Colleen Bryant, had inherited a shit ton of money from her elderly husband when he passed away. She used it to build an empire, and to continue building the Granger properties throughout the world. Colleen was a force to be reckoned with, and Emma desperately wanted to be her when she grew up—or, at least, the Couture side of her.

When Colleen stepped into Club Inferno, she became a Dominatrix of great renown. That wasn’t Emma’s kink. Emma wanted strong hands to hold her down and give her pleasure that she had only read about. She wanted someone to crave her. Someone to cherish and protect her. Someone like Dante.

Emma sighed. Not that that was ever going to happen. And since she hadn’t yet worked up the nerve to actually go deeper into Club Inferno than outside the meet-up rooms, she should just stick to scheduling.

Emma wished it wasn’t so awkward between her and Dante. Part of her wished that they were still kids sitting on the couch, shoveling popcorn in their mouths as fast as they could while watching a spooky movie or some kind of variety show like American Idol.

Dante had the annoying habit of always being able to pick the winner from the very first show. It hurt a bit that she didn’t know this Dante—Master Dante, as everyone called him. People who didn’t know him said that he was mean. But that wasn’t true. Dante just had a deep streak of darkness that was both fascinating and arousing to her and, really, everyone else. And while it might not have been appropriate for either of them to act on it when they were younger, there was no one stopping them now, except the shadow of her brother, who she hadn’t seen for more than a day or two in a few years.

“Emma, can you bump Senator Watkins to a three o’clock appointment?” Colleen asked. “And make sure we have chocolate-covered strawberries for Alistair Koenig?”

It took Emma a minute to sort that Senator Watkins was scheduled for the dungeon and Alistair Koenig was meeting with Colleen to talk about importing silk. Juggling Colleen’s schedule was a trip. Her time was booked several months in advance, and her hourly rate wasn’t cheap, whether she was whipping some grateful sub or conducting a workshop on fashion design. Keeping the two sides of her business separate couldn’t have been easy, but Colleen made it look effortless. She had a team of attorneys who made sure her nondisclosure agreements were ironclad and prohibitively costly should anyone decide to reveal Club Inferno’s existence to nonmembers.

During her days working with Colleen, Emma gave it her all, determined to become a valued employee, but Emma’s nights were lacking any real social activities. A part of her wanted to party at the club, but another part of her was frightened of opening the door to all of her sexual fantasies. And yet, she craved to learn more about the world that she had only gotten quick glimpses of. Although she could have chosen any of the Doms to teach her about submission, she only wanted to be taught by Dante. And he would never agree to that. He might even die of embarrassment if she asked him. Or maybe she would die of embarrassment. Probably she would.

She couldn’t help but wonder, though, if she sank to her knees in front of him and begged him to show her what she had been missing, if he would command her to strip or if he would haul her up to her feet and yank her out of the dungeon.

Emma would count that as a win, if he’d only spank her a bit on the way out. She chuckled, but it didn’t ease the ache between her thighs. She longed to experience everything Master Dante could offer her.