Casey's Choice Read online

  “And which career is that, exactly?”

  “Why are you asking?” Casey put a fiery note into her voice. “I don’t understand where this is going. Max? Please explain what this is all about. I don’t really like it that I’m the only one here.” She clutched the stem of the glass. It was heavy, probably expensive. She didn’t want to drop it.

  “Oh, I think you’ll be very grateful, in a little bit, that you’re the only guest tonight,” Max said, glancing at the spanking bench, and Casey followed his eyes. A small squeak escaped her throat, followed by a thrill of arousal and panic. “What—what do you mean?”

  “I’ll explain. But first, I want to hear more about you. About college. So tell me more about the animal protests.” Max’ gaze was direct, and something in his voice put Casey on guard. She wanted to tell the truth, but she was completely frazzled by this situation. Struggling to figure it out, she automatically spoke, being Sofia, while trying to understand what was going on here.

  “Oh! Well, you know. It’s not nice to experiment on animals. So I joined up with this group of friends, and we protested.” The spanking bench had a set of cuffs lying on it. And there was a crop, and a paddle, and was that a cane?

  “I thought you were the leader.” Max gave her a long look.

  “Well, I mean, I don’t want to brag.” Casey sucked in her breath. Fucking Sofia. Next to the cane, what was that? She tried to peer over without being obvious, but she couldn’t see what was inside the leather box.

  “Oh, that doesn’t seem like bragging, to admit that you were the organizer of the campus Ethical Treatment for Animals organization.” Hunter inserted himself into the conversation, smoothly. It was like a tag team.

  “Uh.” Casey glanced from one to the other. So that was the ETA. Shit.

  “So—which facility was it again, when you got arrested?” Hunter’s voice was casual. Max sat back, crossed his legs, and took a sip of his wine.

  “Oh, a, you know, mega-conglomerate. I don’t even like to say their name. It gives them credence.” Why was she the only one here? And what was in that little box?

  “And which animals were you specifically trying to save?” Max was asking the questions again.

  “The—the mice, you know. And the monkeys.” She swallowed hard again past a lump in her throat, feeling tears come to her eyes. Why was she continuing to lie? This was ridiculous! She tensed her legs, ready to stand.

  “That’s interesting. The report said it was a place that specialized in hamsters. Give me your glass.” Max refilled it and Casey drank, several huge sips, and wiped her lips.

  “Yes! Yes. Most people don’t know that, um, hamsters are a growing minority in animals that are used in experiments, poor things. The ones we rescued, they were adorable, really. Such sweet faces, soft fur.” She glanced back at the door. What if she got up and ran? They’d let her go, surely. But somehow she knew that if she did that, she’d never see either man again.

  “You said in your press conference that they were hideously deformed, with extra limbs and empty eye sockets and patches of bare skin. Some were radioactive.”

  “Yes, so they were. And that’s—adorable. Because you could see their spirits shining through, their bright, powerful—um.” She felt sweat breaking out on her brow. “Why are we talking about this?”

  Max made a stifled sound and looked like he was trying to choke back a laugh. His eyes snapped with something that could only be humor. She finished the glass of wine and leaned forward to set it back on the glass table, and it landed hard, with a clinking noise.

  “We’re just getting to know each other better,” said Hunter in a pleasant voice. “Don’t you think that’s a good idea? A few things about you haven’t been adding up for me, either. Your knowledge of art is impressive, but surprising, given your background.”

  Max added, “But knowing that such a conscientious person has joined our group, well, that’s a special thing, Sofia.” He raised his glass and smirked. “To people who want to change the world with their integrity. And save the hamsters.”

  Casey felt like vomiting. They knew. Somehow, they already knew, just before she was going to come clean. She felt dizzy, and put both hands on her knees as if to steady her body. “I’m sorry.” Her voice came out trembling.

  “For what, Sofia?” Hunter’s voice was steely now. Max put down his drink.

  “I was going to tell you.” Even to her ears, the words sounded insincere. “I really was. Tonight.” She gave them beseeching glances. “Please.”

  “Why don’t you start by telling us who you really are?” Hunter’s voice was deceptively soft.

  “I’m Casey. Casey Reilly. I have a PhD in art, and I work in a gallery, and I’m not rich, and I never protested animal rights. Although, of course, I care about them. And I got all A’s and A+’s,” she said defensively, putting up her chin. “Unlike Sofia, who apparently barely passed. And no big surprise, if she couldn’t even put the P in PETA. God.”

  “And do you care to tell us why you’re impersonating Sofia, and coming to this club under a false identity?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “We have time.” Hunter nodded at the spanking bench. “As long as it takes.”

  Casey looked at it too, with a sinking heart, then glanced at the door and back to the two men.

  “You can leave whenever you want,” said Max. “But I think you owe us an explanation. Or are you too cowardly to face up to what you did?”

  “I’m no coward!” Casey shouted, then put her hand to her mouth. “And I am sorry. I didn’t mean to let it get this far.”

  “Are you a reporter? Are you here to write an undercover story on BDSM? To out the people in this club, or to blackmail some of us for your silence?” Hunter’s voice was hard. He held one fist in his other hand, and Casey was mesmerized by the strength in his grip.

  “No,” she protested with vehemence.

  “No?”

  “I’m not, I swear it. You can Google me. You’ll see my Etsy site, and my PhD dissertation, and my name at the Rising Sun Gallery as assistant curator. That’s it. I’m not a reporter or anything like that. I never came here planning to blackmail anyone.”

  “Then tell us what you were doing here. And why you lied.” Max’s voice was calmer, easier. He put out a hand to steady her. “Okay?”

  She shook her head, at a loss for words. His grip was warm and strong and she squeezed his fingers tightly before she let go. “I don’t know where to start.”

  Max’s voice held a note of compassion. “Start at the beginning.”

  “All right.” Casey looked at his legs because she couldn’t bring her eyes up to him, to see the disappointment in them. His pants looked expensive, and his powerful quads were muscular even through the fabric. “So I read about this club—Dominion—a long time ago. About a year ago, when there was an in-depth article—”

  “In the Chronicle,” interrupted Max, with a sigh of frustration. “Yes.”

  Hunter added, “Someone who came into the club under false pretenses just to get a story.”

  “Well,” Casey continued, “I was intrigued. And I wanted to try some things in BDSM, but the public clubs seemed too scary, intense, and sometimes unsafe. I wasn’t ready to put myself out there like that. And one day…” She trailed off and bit her lip.

  “One day?” Hunter prompted.

  “One day I was in a coffee shop downtown, and I overheard two girls talking. Their names were Kelsie and Sofia. Kelsie said she’d filled out an application for Sofia, and that Sofia had passed, and she gave Sofia a personal invitation. Sofia got very angry, said she wanted nothing to do with it, and that Kelsie had overstepped. When she left, she threw the invitation away in the trash.”

  “And you took it.” Max’s voice lacked expression.

  Casey nodded, jerkily. “Yes, I took it. I did. I took it and read it, and then I thought—” She swallowed. “I thought maybe I’d just use it to come see. Because I wa
s so curious. I was dying to know what happened at this club, and I wanted to try… things. I felt bad about impersonating her, but I figured it would be just the one time and I’d just look around and nobody would ever know. And I could answer the questions I had.”

  “But it wasn’t just the one time.” Hunter’s voice was displeased.

  “No. I liked it so much, and when I had the chance to tell you the truth, I—didn’t. I wanted to see you again, and I was so scared that if you found out I wasn’t a rich model and that I’d lied, that you’d kick me out. So I kept being her. Sofia.”

  “I let you stay in my home,” Hunter snapped. “I tied you up, and spanked you, and I made love to you, S—Casey.” She looked at him and found that his expression was feral. “I trusted you. I asked you to be my submissive. And you were lying the entire time, and not about something trivial—you were lying about your very identity. We talked.” His voice broke on the last word, and he cleared his throat, hard.

  Her eyes welled with tears. “I’m the same person. I’m just Casey, not Sofia. Everything I said to you was true. Except, ah, about the hamsters. But the art? My ideas? The way I felt about you? That was all me.” She put her hand to her chest. “That was me, Hunter. Casey.”

  “God.” He ran his hands through his hair. “No wonder you seemed different from the application. You were different.” He gave a bark of laughter that sounded anything but mirthful. “A different person.”

  “No! I used her name, yes, but everything I said and did was all me.”

  “Nothing was real, S—Casey. I asked you to be my submissive again because I felt something for you I had never before felt for a woman, not so fast. And it was all based on a lie. How do you think that makes me feel?”

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Her voice caught. “But the emotions, the attraction, that’s all real. You know that, right?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know anything right now.”

  Max spoke. “Apart from personal feelings, do you understand what a big problem this is? How wrong it was to pretend to be someone else?”

  Casey’s voice cracked. “I was going to tell you tonight, Hunter. I was going to ask your forgiveness.”

  “It’s too late for that,” Hunter snapped, and Casey’s heart sank.

  Max put up his hand. “I want to make sure Casey understands the gravity of what she did. Casey.” His voice was frustrated. “I’m a lawyer. Do you realize that Sofia—if she found out what you did—could sue you? And she’d have a reasonable case. A BDSM club? Standing naked in a crowd and using her name? She could argue defamation, and a good lawyer could make it stick. In some states that can even mean time in prison, S—Casey.” He shook his head. “What in the hell were you thinking?”

  She started to breathe faster and her head swam, and she folded into herself, crying. “I didn’t know that.”

  “What did you think could happen?” Hunter’s voice was cold. “You’re a grownup, or at least you play one in public. Did you think she’d send you flowers and heart emoticon texts if she found out?”

  “I didn’t think about her finding out. I knew she wasn’t into the club, and Kelsie was supposed to be in Florida for a few weeks—”

  Max broke in. “She still is. I had some suspicions about you, Casey, so I called her there and asked her a few open questions about her friend Sofia, feeling it out. She told me that Sofia had thrown out the invitation, wasn’t planning to come. She begged me to take Sofia’s name off the list. Oh, and Sofia is actually in Puerto Rico for a month visiting family while she shoots pictures for her Cover Face contract.”

  “Oh.” Her voice was small. “Did you tell her or the real Sofia what I did?”

  “No, we did not tell either of them. I didn’t think it would be beneficial to anyone—to her, to us, to this club, or to you.”

  Hunter added, “Not that you’re at the top of the list here.”

  She winced, and Hunter continued: “If we told her what happened, she’d get hurt, angry, scared, and might threaten to sue you. A lawsuit would mean publicity for her, us, the club. In the end, she surely wouldn’t do it; that wouldn’t be good for her career in mainstream modeling. But she might threaten and mediate and demand a payment from you, which you wouldn’t be able to pay, and then we’d probably have to cover it.”

  “You got lucky,” Max said, his voice somber. “This could have gone very differently, if you picked a different person to impersonate, or if I hadn’t talked to her. Jesus, Casey.”

  Mute, she just sat there.

  “You’ve acted in an incredibly foolish, childish, incomprehensible way,” said Hunter, his voice even icier than before. “Max is right that you’re lucky.”

  Casey finally found her voice. “I swear, this isn’t something I do on a regular basis. I’m a nice person. A good person.” Her voice was pleading. “I’m kind, and a good friend, and I try to help people out where I can, and I studied hard in school. I’m a good artist—but I know you don’t care about that. I’m sorry I came here and messed things up.” She wiped her eyes and tried to stand, but her legs were shaky. “I’ll go call a cab.”

  “Sit down.” Hunter’s voice was clipped. “We’re not done.”

  “We’re—not?”

  “No. We still have some business to take care of.”

  “What business is that?” She could feel her lips tremble.

  “Your punishment,” said Hunter, his voice silk over steel. “You did agree to abide by the rules of the club, and one of them is that when a rule is broken, that person is punished. And you broke a rule.”

  “But—”

  “You violated the privacy of the club, and you compromised someone’s identity.”

  “I said I was sorry.”

  “Yes, you told us. Now, show us how sorry.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Max? Explain. I’m too angry to even…” Hunter got up and paced across the room, running a hand through his hair. He cursed and Casey jumped in her chair.

  Max sounded compassionate. “Hunter wanted to kick you out of the club, but I had a better idea. Punishment and forgiveness.”

  “That’s better?” Her voice held a tremor.

  “Usually, a punishment of this nature would be carried out in front of everyone in the club, in order to maximize the humiliation of the punishee, and to show the club that the rules are meant to be obeyed.”

  Casey felt more tears fall. “No.”

  “But in this case, it’s in the best interest of the club to do it privately. Telling the whole club that you impersonated Sofia would do exactly what we’re trying to avoid—it would hurt Sofia’s reputation and yours, and put her in the place where she contemplates lawsuits or settlements. So nobody will know about it except the three of us.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Look at me.” Max’s voice was stern, and Casey forced herself to meet his gaze. “Nothing, unless you agree. First, you’re going to consent to the punishment. You put the club members at risk, and you put yourself at risk, both of which are serious issues. Two big opportunities for disaster. So you’re going to receive a two-part punishment.”

  Casey tried to stand up, stumbled on her heels, and fell back into her chair gracelessly. “I don’t want—”

  Max’s hand shot out and he held her thigh. “The punishment will be hard, but fair, and we’ll honor your safeword. At all times.”

  Casey’s breath came faster and her chest rose and fell. “I have work, and I don’t want to be injured, and that’s cruel and mean. I said I was sorry, and I am, but you can’t abuse me.”

  Hunter came over to crouch beside her. “Casey, we’re not monsters. We’re not going to injure you or make it impossible for you to work. But you’re going to have one damn sore ass. And you’re going to thank us for it, too, because it’s a hell of a lot better than spending time in a courtroom.”

  “But you said you weren’t going to tell anyone! Now you’re thr
eatening to sue me?” She stood up, angry, hands on her hips.

  Max shook his head. “No, Casey. We’re absolutely not going to tell anyone, regardless of whether you accept a punishment or not. This won’t leave this room. What he means is that if the real Sofia found out, you could have ended up in a courtroom. We’d like you to remember that what you did could have been very damaging for your reputation. God, no. We’d never sue you!” His voice rose.

  “Okay.” She nodded.

  Max put his hand on her arm. “Casey, you need to believe me. All right? This is entirely up to you. You can walk out of here and never come back, and we will never come after you for any reason. I swear it.”

  “And if I stay?” She swallowed hard. His eyes were bright, honest. She trusted him.

  “Remember what Cassia got?” Max pointed to the bench. “You’ll get that and more. But you’ll survive, and you’ll learn a lesson from it about thinking before you act, and making wise decisions. All of life is not a game, Casey. Things like people’s identities are serious.”

  “I know that. Don’t you think I know that?”

  “You didn’t before. But don’t worry; you will.”

  “Like… now? Right now?” She stared at him, chin up, not looking away, an insane mixture of trepidation and desire mixing in her body.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “No. In fact, you’re going to walk out of here tonight and go home. Think it over and decide what you want to do. If you decided to accept the punishment, you’ll come here alone, next Saturday night at eleven p.m., wearing nothing but your black dress. We’ll negotiate hard limits, you’ll ask us to punish you, and then you’ll accept whatever we decide to give you. Once we start the punishment, we won’t stop, no matter how much you beg, unless you safeword. Do you understand?”

  Casey crossed her arms. “I don’t know if I like that.”

  “That’s how it will be. And after your punishments are complete, you’ll be forgiven. Slate wiped clean.”