Rachel gave her a glance as she shot the deadbolt in place with a definitive thud.

“That sounds like the voice of experience.”

Dana grinned. “A girl has to get her fun where she can. The blindness gig comes with exceptional hearing, so sometimes I wait until he"s almost walked back up to the door to turn it into the locked position that last time. Then, when he"s turned around and gone about five steps away, I might slide it back out again, to keep him on his toes.”

“Poor Max.” Rachel shook her head. Then she couldn"t help but laugh. “Oh Dana, I think I really needed you today.” She hugged the other woman, a suitable gesture for the occasion, but as the woman"s body made contact with hers, Rachel realized body contact might have been a mistake. Dana wore a form-fitting stylish tee over her snug jeans, and even through the terrycloth, Rachel was hyper aware of the curve of her small breasts, the slope of the spine beneath her palms, the scent of her skin. She found herself holding on a little longer, a little closer, than what was expected for a friendly hug.

She wasn"t into women, but with her erotic awareness stoked to simmering, the ability to touch was a genderless craving. Though the man she wanted with every ounce of her aroused body was Jon, it was the same reason she"d noticed every single one of Max"s pleasing features.

It was kind of scary to realize the only thing keeping her lust contained was that collar, not social constraints. Otherwise she might have given Max an equally enthusiastic hug, with far more wandering hands. She was on the verge of embarrassing herself and couldn"t seem to care.

Dana seemed to pick up on it, because she ran her own palms over Rachel"s back, dropped them down to catch her fingers in the robe"s front tie and tugged on it a little, letting the ends slip through her fingers before she at last stepped back. “They get you pretty wound up, don"t they?”

“Is it that obvious?” Rachel thought about Peter yesterday, the way he"d touched her. The way Lucas had, as he eased her farther into the office. A remarkable bond seemed to exist between the K&A men. And that would likely include the women. How much did Dana know? Rachel wasn"t sure if it would bother her on a normal day. All she knew right now was it didn"t.

“Not too obvious.” Dana flashed a grin, underscoring the obvious lie. Then she sobered. “Jon"s protective. They all are. He wanted me to come here, spend the day with you, if you"d like that. He hates that he has to be away from you right now.”

“Well, that"s just silly. I mean, we… It"s not that we"re strangers, but we have just started…whatever this is. Right?”

“Hmm.” Dana set aside the cane. When she reached up toward Rachel"s face with both hands, Rachel stilled, not sure what she was about. The woman laid her palms on Rachel"s cheeks, slim fingers stroking to her jaw, then down farther. Rachel drew in a breath, her heart thudding as Dana investigated the collar, stepping closer to feel the lock on the back of it. Her breasts, clad in the soft T-shirt, brushed Rachel"s. Even through terrycloth, the contact made her pulse thud. What made it worse or better, depending on her perspective, was that as Dana investigated, Rachel felt the black woman"s nipples tighten. It aroused Dana, knowing Rachel was collared. Then she cupped Rachel"s skull, lifted onto her toes and put her mouth on Rachel"s parted lips.

Blessed God and Goddess. Again— not into women—but it didn"t matter. It was sexual contact, and her body was ravenous for any kind of touch that wasn"t her own.

In some way too primeval to explain in civilized company, it gave them a provocative bond, that this woman also called her man Master, submitted to his ownership. Rachel had imagined Peter carrying out his threats, Dana bent over his knee, that large hand smacking her bare buttocks, giving them a deep rose tinge under the brown pigment.

And of course from there it wasn"t much of a leap to remember Jon"s use of that ruler on her own still-sore ass. Dana"s kiss was like an initiation, a welcome. A reassurance that Rachel wasn"t alone on this path.

Rachel dove hard and deep into that kiss, making a whimper in her throat as she gripped Dana"s waist. Dana brushed her hands aside, though, and slipped the robe tie.

Rachel breathed a sigh of relief as the garment was pushed off her shoulders, freeing her body once more. Then Dana explored, following the chain down from Rachel"s throat, between her breasts and over her abdomen. She stopped short of her clit, following the chain around to the back and then smoothing her graceful hands over Rachel"s buttocks, her knuckles trailing across skin. Interestingly, though Rachel quivered and jerked from the near misses around cunt and nipples, Dana was obviously careful to offer no direct touches there. Eventually, her hands came back to claim Rachel"s, fingers tangled and holding together.

When the other woman at last broke the kiss, stepped back, Rachel stared at her in amazement. Dana"s mouth was wet with hers, her brown eyes considering, a secretive but rueful smile playing around her lips. “That bastard. No wonder he wanted me to come spend time with you. You"d jump a teenage Boy Scout selling popcorn tins right now. It would serve Jon right if I let you do it. Or called Max back up here and let him take full advantage of it, though he probably values his job and his life more than that.” Rachel imagined the slimmer, less physically imposing Jon against Max, but then she remembered that look he"d had when his gaze fell on the bruise on her cheek. No, it was probably best not to make any assumptions about the unpredictable, fascinating man who"d invaded her life over the past couple days.

“I was thinking I could have checked out his ass more without that coat he was wearing,” she managed weakly. “It covers a lot.”

“Trust me, you could bounce a quarter off Max"s ass. The advantage of being blind.” Dana affected an exaggerated Southern belle accent. “Sometimes I can"t help stumblin", now can I? I just have t"grab onto the person next to me before I fall. And I can"t see where I"m grabbin", darlin", now can I?” She gave Rachel a broad wink and a grin. “Peter gave me a real walloping for that one, because Max was such a tattletale.

But I wasn"t sorry.”

Something unexpected came behind Rachel"s laugh. A tiny sob. Ever intuitive, Dana made a reassuring sound in her throat, her hands squeezing Rachel"s hard. “C"mon, girl. Let"s sit down and have that tea. You keep the robe off. I can"t see you anyhow, and I know you"re more comfortable without it.”

* * * * *

“Not just more comfortable,” Rachel admitted as they sat at her cheerful bistro set by the window, mid-morning sun streaming in. “It felt…like what he"d want. You were the one who told him I wasn"t married, weren"t you?” Dana had her now bare feet drawn up and curled on the chair edge, one arm linked loosely over her shins, the other hand holding her coffee mug, since she preferred that to tea. When they sat down, Rachel had noticed Dana also wore a set of dog tags, embellished with a solid silver frame. They were strung on a chain along with a handful of jasper beads that picked up the mixed rusts and earth tones of the T-shirt. It was a short chain, the tags falling below her collarbone, making them easy to read. Winston, Peter R. It might as well say “Property of”, Rachel thought with a longing pang beneath her breast. She noticed Dana toyed with them often as she spoke, as she was doing now.

“Yes, it was me. I hope that"s okay. Jon has an unbreakable code, they all do. But he kept coming back to your classes. He"s thought about you a long time, Rachel.”

“I"m older than he is.”

“You"re older than two thousand years? Really? Because I"m pretty sure Jon"s soul dates back to the Druids. I see him standing on top of some temple platform, gazing into a forest, and when he turns his head, he has this mystic charisma that tells you he"s some kind of conduit for the gods.”

“Wow. You get all that without sight?” Because it was all too accurate.

Dana grinned. “Some things you see better when you don"t look with your eyes.” Rachel sighed. “Thirteen years between us, Dana. And it"s not only the years. He did all this to keep my mind spinning with lust, and believe me, it"s working, but at some point I have to come down from that. From his standpoint, I know that will be okay. He"s probably had plenty of relationships like this, and I guess I should be glad that for the first time in my life I get to experience a Master"s touch. It"s better than I ever imagined, because of him. I should just let that happen, enjoy it while it lasts, but I don"t know if I can. I don"t know if…”

Dana put a hand over hers on the table, traced the fingers with the same sensual touch she"d used when she"d explored the chains on Rachel"s body. “No ring. You took it off.”

“Jon did. I couldn"t…couldn"t bring myself to put it back on.”

“Hmm.” Peter"s fiancée cocked her head. “People make their own decisions. It"s obvious you have a lot of hurt stored up in you, a lot of disappointments. Now you"re figuring out how to deal with those against a force of nature like Jon, and I think that"s good. He needs to see that, know what obstacles he faces. You"re right—pretty much up until two days ago, Jon could walk into a BDSM club, or hook up with someone in his business or social set, and thoroughly enjoy a short-term relationship. He"s very good at seeing them to their natural end and making that end go down smooth as silk.”

She was supposed to be glad to be hearing this, instead of wanting Dana to stop putting images in her head of Jon with other women. Dana"s fingers flexed on hers, as if sensing the direction of her thoughts.

“I think you need to know a little bit more about the K&A men. Would you like to?”

A sensible person would say no, would resist being drawn deeper into a world where she couldn"t stay. Instead she already had her mouth open to give her answer.

“After yesterday, I"m overflowing with curiosity.”